Windows? [OT]

[Richmond Mathewson]

Running Livecode on ReactOS [Why? Because its there!]

1. Running ReactOS in Oracle VM VirtualBox on Ubuntu-Linux 11.04 (Host 
has 1 GB RAM, VBox 512).

2. The pre-configured VBox image on the ReactOS site froze fairly quickly.

3. Downloaded an SVN 0.4 build and installed from the ISO image.

3.1. Went through 3 builds as ReactOS really does duplicate the 
blue-screens of death very well
        indeed.

3.1.1 Oddly enough the thing downloaded the WINE-Gecko engine halfway 
through the install.

3.2. The Windows installer (4.0) does NOT function.

3.3. Copied a Windows install under WINE into an ISO image.

3.4. Copied the Windows install across into the Documents folder of 
ReactOS; it started
        and asked me for my license code; and then froze.

3.4.1 "entertainingly" when ReactOS froze the fans on my Linux box 
started spinning
          nineteen to the dozen, which made me quit VBox multo-quickly!

4. Well; ReactOS, at least, renders PNG images, which WINE does not, and 
the WINE forum
     "get all prickly" when you mention this.

5. Apart from that ReactOS stinks; it resembles a sort of "half-cock 
job" at imitating
     Windows 95 . . . and the team (who, reading between the lines, 
appear to be one Russian
     chap and his dog) seem to have been working at 'it' for years and 
years.

I went back to the website and read this:

"The ultimate goal of ReactOS is to allow you to remove Windows® and 
install ReactOS without the end user noticing the change."

I cannot quite understand the point of this. Either (having, one hopes, 
paid for a license,) one is
perfectly happy working with Windows, or, being unhappy with Windows, 
one will chuck it out and
start using a Linux distro or one of the many other operating systems 
available. Why one would
want to replace Windows by a poorly made copy of the same thing escapes 
me completely.

"It is our view that Linux + Wine can never be a full replacement for 
Microsoft(R) Windows(R). ReactOS has the potential for a much higher 
degree of compatibility - especially for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) drivers 
- which WINE does not address."

This is full of all sorts of odd stuff:

"It is our view that Linux + Wine can never be a full replacement for 
Microsoft(R) Windows(R). "

This lot love the (R) things which they chuck around like water, as if 
it makes any difference at all.

Of course "Linux + Wine" can never be a full replacement for 
Microsoft(R) Windows(R), it isn't
really trying to be. What it is trying to be is an alternative family of 
operating systems (the way
the ReactOS keeps rabbitting on as if Linux were as monolithic as 
Windows is also a bit disingenuous),
where WINE is really a stop-gap to run programs authored for Windows 
until such as time as an
adequate alternative has been programmed for Linux.

"ReactOS has the potential for a much higher degree of compatibility - 
especially for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) drivers - which WINE does not 
address."

First off; that word "potential"; 'twill be a long time until it is 
realised, by which time Windows will have moved ahead a lot more quickly 
than ReactOS ever will.

'Drivers'; I dunno; but every time I plug a peripheral into my Ubuntu 
box it works without any silly
dialog boxes anent drivers popping up; so why should I get my knickers 
in a twist here?

this section "What about UNIX?":

http://www.reactos.org/en/about.html

really is daft; first UNIX is criticised because it is old: well, so is 
my Dad; but he knows a hell of
a lot more about many things than my kids, so it is he to whom I turn to 
for advice!

"modern UNIX derivates {sic} are trying to catch up with recent innovation"

what a crock of 'shoe-polish'. The fact that the website sports quite a 
bit of 'Ringlish' [English strained
through Russian socks] doesn't turn me on either.

Either stick with Windows, Mac or Linux [err . . . Haiku; a bit slow 
right now . . . Andre?],
but don't fall between 2 stools with ReactOS.

Richmond.