[xp5evr]

I am sure a lot of people here are at least a bit familiar with ReactOS, and for those who aren't here is an excerpt from their front page:

ReactOS® is a free open source operating system based on the best design principles found in the Windows NT® architecture (Windows versions such as Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 are built on Windows NT architecture). Written completely from scratch, ReactOS is not a Linux based system, and shares none of the UNIX architecture.

I am wondering what are peoples' thoughts on this project. Do you think this OS will ever challenge Windows, also in terms of being more secure? Or do you think the project is too ambitious and will never get very usable in practice? etc

Obviously it has a long way to go when it comes to security being mostly based on XP and pre-Vista features and even so not even implementing nearly everything XP does, so my questions are more looking into the future.

[Vrtule]

I am wondering what are peoples' thoughts on this project. Do you think this OS will ever challenge Windows, also in terms of being more secure? Or do you think the project is too ambitious and will never get very usable in practice? etc

I do not think they ever get to the state that allows them to compete with Windows. Maybe, they reach near-W2k3 comaptibility and security, howerver, Windows will be far away (they are already).

I really like that project but I think they should direct their effort in a little bit different way. I would appreciate something like Windows without GUI for recovery and diagnostic purposes. The term "Windows without GUI" means that only console mode will be available. Such approach might greatly reduce amount of Win32k (and other) code required to be compatible with Windows applications. Well, without GUI, not many applications will actually be compatible, however, it will be possible to concentrate more on security and other important topics. I think that without security (and stability), there is no chance of more massive usage of the system.

Do not be confused by my post. I really like the ReactOS project. Howerver, I think that their goals are too big for now.

[DerW_234]

I really liked an idea in the Malware Analysts Cookbook regarding ReactOS (recipe 9-15): Creating a custom command shell from the source code that looks like the original and logs all commands to a text file (useful when your malware runs some batch scripts etc.).
However the rest of the OS didn't seem like it's going to be a real challenge for Windows anytime soon.

[TouchMe]

I was under the impression ReactOS was never supposed to be better or more secure than windows, it was supposed to be an opensource NT Operating System. Whenever i do any windows internals work, I can reverse engineer a function then compare it against ReactOS and it will almost always be identical, call for call.

[Ormu]

I test ReactOS every now and then. It's far from complete or even usable for daily use but the project and idea behind it are really interesting.

Btw, tried to infect ReactOS with "Windows Accelerator Pro" rogue (sample by Xylitol) - didn't work.

[0xFFFF]

There are some Windows developers on the ReactOS project, which may explain the similarities in code between Windows and ReactOS.

[Buster_BSA]

Btw, tried to infect ReactOS with "Windows Accelerator Pro" rogue (sample by Xylitol) - didn't work.

Interesting. What did cause the infection to fail?

[EP_X0FF]

Btw, tried to infect ReactOS with "Windows Accelerator Pro" rogue (sample by Xylitol) - didn't work. :P

Interesting. What did cause the infection to fail?

I can only guess, but I think this is crypter related.

[g4mbit]

After speaking with the main developer behind ReactOS, what I've understood is that it was never meant to be a competitor to Windows. It is/was more of a research project on the internals of Windows and an alternative to how Windows could be improved in some areas.