Is there an open source version of Windows?

[DomS]

So say I wanted vista, but don't want to pay or pirate it...is there an open source version?

 

[sourceninja]

There is an open source OS that has the aim of being compatible fully with windows NT based operating systems. It is currently in alpha, but it's target is closer to windows 2000/xp then vista. http://www.reactos.org

 

[AnonymouseUser]

No open source version, but you can get it for "free"! Well, sorta... It comes pre-installed on most new, pre-built systems. Buy the computer, get Vista for "free"!

 

[RebateMonger]

You want to run an emulated (read slow and unreliable) copy of software that many claim is already slow and unreliable?

Last time I looked, Dell was selling refurbished business machines with Core2Duo processors, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard drives, and VISTA for $230. In other words, Vista was pretty much free.

 

[EULA]

Originally posted by: DomS
So say I wanted vista, but don't want to pay or pirate it...is there an open source version?

Some academic institutions have partnerships with Microsoft, and you can download many of their products for free.

I downloaded Vista, Server 2003, XP, and a score of other various Microsoft applications through this method.

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
You want to run an emulated (read slow and unreliable) copy of software that many claim is already slow and unreliable?

Last time I looked, Dell was selling refurbished business machines with Core2Duo processors, 2 GB of RAM, 250 GB hard drives, and VISTA for $230. In other words, Vista was pretty much free.

What do you mean emulated? Wine is not an emulator. ReactOS is for sure not an emulator.

You emulate software. You implement software. Wine and reactOS are just implementing the windows api. This is native. The only thing even close to emulated is wine's directX calls which translate directX into opengl. Standard windows calls are in many cases faster than actually using windows.

ReactOS is an entire Operating system written to implement the windows api (I think they are about 60% compatible). There would be no slow down and I would expect it to actually be smaller and faster than windows. Too bad it won't be ready for real use for a long long time.