{"id":609089,"date":"2026-08-30T09:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T09:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609089\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T09:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T09:26:13","slug":"this-open-source-windows-alternative-looks-like-xp-and-it-just-got-a-huge-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609089\/","title":{"rendered":"This open-source Windows alternative looks like XP, and it just got a huge update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/p>\n

ReactOS is an open-source, Windows-like OS with its own kernel (neither Windows nor Linux).<\/p>\n

v0.4.16 adds a graphical installer and a single boot\/live image so you can test and install from one medium.<\/p>\n

It’s still in alpha, but 0.4.16 packs many bug fixes: video\/audio fixes, an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE storage fix, and improved network drivers are included with this update.<\/p>\n

Usually, when picking an operating system, you have a choice: you can either install something that’s open-source, or you can use Windows apps natively. But what if you wanted both? Well, that’s what ReactOS is aiming to do.<\/p>\n

It’s an operating system that’s based on its own kernel, making it neither Windows nor Linux, but features the compatibility of the former with the open-source codebase of the latter. And it just received its big 0.4.16 update, which is well worth checking out.<\/p>\n

ReactOS 0.4.16 has been released for all to try<\/p>\n

It’s still in an alpha state, though<\/p>\n

\"reactos-gui-setup\"
\n Credit:\u00a0ReactOS<\/p>\n

Over on the ReactOS website, the team shares what’s new with version 0.4.16. As you might imagine with a version number like that, ReactOS is still in alpha, and it will likely be that way for a while. However, it’s still a cool project you can tinker with if the idea of an open source Windows XP-like OS sounds like something you’d enjoy.<\/p>\n

The star of the show for ReactOS 0.4.16 is a new way to install it from media:<\/p>\n

Historically, ReactOS offered two images for download, a livecd which let you test ReactOS in a read-only environment, and a bootcd which let you install ReactOS to your hard disk using a text-based installer. Thanks to the efforts of Herm\u00e8s B\u00e9lusca-Ma\u00efto (hbelusca<\/a>), ReactOS 0.4.16 has a new graphical installer and a combined bootcd and livecd. Now you can test and install ReactOS using the same image.<\/p>\n

Other than that, ReactOS 0.4.16 features a ton of bug fixes. This includes fixing issues with video and audio, a solution for the INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE error when using the storage driver, and more support for network drivers. If that sounds like something you’d like to try, head over to the ReactOS download page<\/a> and give 0.4.16 a try.<\/p>\n


\n \"Half-life<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tThis 28-year-old open-source Windows alternative can finally run Half-Life 2
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

ReactOS is now capable of playing Valve’s iconic first-person shooter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary ReactOS is an open-source, Windows-like OS with its own kernel (neither Windows nor Linux). v0.4.16 adds a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":["post-609089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}