Open source Windows alternative ReactOS gets faster in 0.3.9

In case you aren't familiar with the ReactOS project in a nutshell, the aim is to produce an open source operating system that is fully Windows compatible. I've been intrigued by the project for years, and as the developers push toward the release of version 0.4, there's every reason to get excited.

The latest version, 0.3.9, sports reduced memory requirements and major speed improvements, as well as a number of other enhancements. ReactOS requires only 32Mb of memory (it will run with as little as 20Mb), and the installer weighs in at just under 34Mb. Preliminary AC97 sound support has also been added, and GDI fixes have taken care of a number of graphics issues.

Want to take it for a spin? You can play with ReactOS a number of ways. There's an installation CD, LiveCD, VMWare virtual machine, and pre-packed Qemu setup, all ready to download. Just keep in mind that ReactOS is still considered an alpha release at this point.

Once you've got ReactOS running, fire up the downloader to get some apps installed, like Firefox, mIRC, AbiWord, IfranView, or even the Diablo 2 Shareware release. Nice!

[via TuxRadar]

Tags: open-source, opensource, osupdates, reactos, wine