Tofita VS reactos

Kinda off-topic, but I wonder if a hypothetical OS that reimplements the Windows APIs (like ReactOS[0], but with perfect modern hardware support) would be better for end users than a Linux distro with a modern DE.

In the past, this hypothetical OS would be a revolution. But I feel that, in recent years, this gap is not as big anymore and Linux supports way more apps than in the past. Such an OS might even not be relevant anymore, even if it exists.

Do I have a blind spot on this? Is there value in having a "working ReactOS" as of 2026?

[0] https://reactos.org/

At this moment ReactOS guys should consider distributing their apps separatelly from their bundle.

https://github.com/reactos/reactos/tree/master/base/applicat...

"Microsoft's GitHub is hosting the leaked source code (which probably got sucked into Copilot and every other AI under the sun as a result)." "However, I don't think copyright lawyers will care. «They're also committing a crime» doesn't mean you're free to do what you want. That applies especially in ReactOS vs MS, because if ReactOS succeeds, it will compete directly with Microsoft."

And ReactOS uses GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/reactos/reactos/pull/8516

There's also such thing as being responsible (for an outcome), which in case of litigation means being culpable. Microsoft here is the sole actor that has any control on the GitHub Copilot, on what it was fed with, and thus - on its output (which would be the base of their causation if they sue). How do you imagine such a case could be made to look like it would have any legal standing?

On topic of less user-hostile OS , I wonder how this guys are doing:

https://reactos.org/

https://elementary.io/

Compiling into object code is easy but linkig is tricky. For reference of possilbe options, I used an example from ReactOS project. ReactOS is the only working (sort of) full reverse-engineered NT operating system kernel. It is a cool project. ReactOS Github repo has a collection of build options for kernel-mode drivers that can be carved out of CMake files.

Microsoft might not do it, but there's always reactos [1]

[1] https://reactos.org/

Most likely due to kernel related stuff being still actively worked on¹ and (more importantly) due to a shortage of developers willing and capable to tackle that kind of challenge.

¹ At the time of this writing, there are open PRs like this one: https://github.com/reactos/reactos/pull/8422

There's always ReactOS[1], a project for a bug-for-bug compatible Windows clone. It used to mostly aim at Windows 9x compatibility the last time I'd checked, though, but that could probably change. And if anyone wants to create a Win7 clone, at least some of the groundwork has already been made.

[1]: https://reactos.org/