Operating Systems

Every time we think of operating systems, Windows, Linux and UNIX quickly come to mind. There are many more out there. I am talking about OS at the desktop level. Mostly home and small business users. Not about the enterprise.

There are two schools of thought. One are ok with Windows, others are not. Those who are not can also be classified to two groups. One who wants everything on Linux. They want the OS and applications all on Linux. This potentially means rewriting applications or finding equivalents. Getting accustomed to the user interface etc.

The other are those who like the windows interface, but are looking for alternative to windows OS. A new OS that looks like windows, can run all windows applications unchanged. ReactOS is one that addresses this category of people. There is FreeDOS as well but that tries to replace MS-DOS. Now some of you might think, MS-DOS? But let me tell you, lots of applications like Cash Registers, Inventory applications still run on MS-DOS. For these people FreeDOS is a boon. Not for the home users. No one will replace his/her XP with FreeDOS. But ReactOS is different. It is aiming to replace XP/2003. Just replace the OS. All applications will just run normally.

Do read more about ReactOS. As mentioned on the site, OS is still in alpha. (there is plenty of time).