ReactOS 0.4.16 serves '90s Windows nostalgia with fewer bugs

A new version of the open-source Windows NT clone, ReactOS, has been released, offering a nostalgic return to the 1990s Windows experience with improved features and fewer bugs. The latest release, 0.4.16, has been in development for over a year and a half and addresses several issues that have plagued the project in the past. ReactOS aims to run Windows applications and drivers in an open-source environment that users can trust.

Improved installation and compatibility features have been a major focus for the ReactOS team with this release. The team has introduced a unified bootcd and livecd image, allowing users to boot into a temporary version of ReactOS for testing and install the OS in a single step. A new graphical installer has also been included, replacing the outdated interface that users previously had to navigate during installation.

ReactOS's video drivers have historically been problematic for third-party graphics drivers, but improvements in this release have addressed a significant memory issue that was causing system page table entries to fill up. Additionally, a new HD audio bus driver has been added, replacing an older version that was never fully completed and was causing frequent bugchecks.

Storage support has also been enhanced with a new ATA driver that allows ReactOS to boot in more environments, including first-generation Hyper-V VMs, and a disk cleanup utility has been added.

Networking capabilities have been expanded in this release, with support for more adapters and virtual environments, as well as asynchronous connections. Additionally, ReactOS has abandoned Windows Server 2003 compatibility restrictions, allowing its Wine fork to be updated to the latest version of Wine, which is now at version 10.0.

This update also includes support for WineVDM, increasing compatibility for 16-bit Windows applications. The release notes conclude with the team's statement that ReactOS is committed to running users' favorite Windows applications and drivers in a trustworthy open-source environment, and each release brings them closer to achieving this goal.