--- title: ReactOS Reviews meta_title: 'ReactOS Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 29 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how ReactOS works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.1 review_count: 29 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-07' parent_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- # ReactOS Reviews **Vendor:** ReactOS Foundation **Category:** [Operating Systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/operating-system) **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 29 ## About ReactOS ReactOS is a free and open-source operating system designed to be compatible with Windows applications and drivers. It aims to provide a familiar user experience by replicating the look and feel of Windows, enabling users to run their favorite Windows software in an open-source environment. ReactOS is developed from scratch, ensuring that it is not a derivative of Linux, but a standalone system with its own architecture. Key Features and Functionality: - Windows Compatibility: ReactOS is capable of running a wide range of Windows applications and drivers, offering users the flexibility to use software they are accustomed to. - Familiar Interface: The operating system mirrors the appearance and functionality of Windows, reducing the learning curve for new users. - Open Source: Being open-source, ReactOS allows users and developers to view, modify, and distribute its source code, fostering a collaborative development environment. - Active Community: The project is supported by a global community, providing opportunities for collaboration, skill enhancement, and contribution to the development of the operating system. Primary Value and User Solutions: ReactOS addresses the need for a free and open-source operating system that maintains compatibility with Windows software and drivers. This is particularly beneficial for users and organizations seeking an alternative to proprietary systems without sacrificing the ability to run essential Windows applications. Additionally, ReactOS serves as an educational platform for those interested in learning about operating system development and Windows internals, offering practical experience in a real-world project. ## ReactOS Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **compatibility with Windows applications** in ReactOS, enjoying a lightweight and open-source operating system. (4 reviews) - Users appreciate the **full compatibility with Windows applications and drivers** that ReactOS offers in an open-source environment. (3 reviews) - Users appreciate the **hardware support** of ReactOS, effectively reviving old systems and enhancing application performance. (3 reviews) - Users appreciate the **lightweight size** of ReactOS, which makes it perfect for older hardware and experimentation. (3 reviews) - Users appreciate the **customization and personalization** options in ReactOS, making it user-friendly and efficient for various needs. (1 reviews) - Users appreciate the **easy setup** of ReactOS, making installation quick and enhancing the overall user experience. (1 reviews) - Users value the **free and open-source** nature of ReactOS, making it a great choice for organizations. (1 reviews) - Users love the **hardware compatibility** of ReactOS, effectively reviving old systems and running legacy Windows applications. (1 reviews) - Linux/Ubuntu OS (1 reviews) - Powerful Features (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users experience **driver issues** with ReactOS, leading to instability and limited compatibility with modern applications. (3 reviews) - Users often experience **system crashes** due to ReactOS's early development stage, affecting reliability and daily use. (3 reviews) - Users face **compatibility issues** with ReactOS, as it struggles with modern applications and NTFS support, limiting usability. (2 reviews) - Users face **hardware limitations** with ReactOS, making it unreliable for daily use and affecting overall performance. (2 reviews) - Users find the **limited software support** of ReactOS concerning, as it struggles with compatibility and reliability issues. (2 reviews) - Users experience **slow updates** with ReactOS, leading to stability issues and limited compatibility with drivers and applications. (2 reviews) - Lack of Support (1 reviews) - Users experience **unstable and limited software compatibility** with ReactOS, hindering usability and performance in various applications. (1 reviews) ## ReactOS Reviews ### 1. Easy-to-Use, Lightweight Windows-Like OS with Great Driver Compatibility **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** HASHAMI M. | TL, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2026 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** ReactOS is an open-source operating system. It’s easy to download and install, and its graphics feel very similar to Windows. It can run Windows executable files and apps, and it has an old-school Windows look from the early 2000s, like Windows XP. Overall, it’s very user-friendly and easy to use and understand, without demanding high system resources. It’s also highly compatible with Windows drivers and can be used to run older, classic Windows applications. It doesn’t require much hardware, and technically it can be an alternative to the modern Windows 11 look if you want a more classic Windows-like experience. It’s easy and convenient to use, not resource-hungry, and it works very easily in VirtualBox as well. The version I used felt stable, and I can see it being used as an everyday OS. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** React OS is good, but because it uses an old Windows-style look and graphics, it sometimes feels like an outdated experience. At times, these older visuals make it less attractive, and I don’t feel like spending a lot of time using React OS. It also has some limitations, and the settings can be hard to access; they aren’t very straightforward, so it’s not easy to set up the proper environment for use. Sometimes it becomes unresponsive or lags, and it can feel unstable and buggy. It also has a very unpopular GUI similar to Windows NT, which, in my opinion, isn’t very appealing to users today. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It’s very closely compatible with Windows, so we haven’t had issues setting up drivers. With Windows, driver setup can be a very hectic task for users, and it often consumes a lot of time and effort. ReactOS saves that time and effort. It also has a very similar look to older versions of Windows. On top of that, it supports running executable files (.exe), so we mostly use ReactOS when we want to design software with that old, classic look. ### 2. A Lightweight Open-Source Platform for Windows-Compatible Legacy Software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Broadcast Media | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 30, 2026 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** What I like best about ReactOS is its goal of being fully compatible with Windows applications and drivers while remaining open-source and lightweight. It offers a familiar Windows-like environment without licensing costs, gives transparency and control over the OS, and is especially useful for learning, experimentation, and running legacy software on modest hardware. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** What I dislike about ReactOS is that it is still in an early development stage, which means stability issues, incomplete hardware driver support, and limited compatibility with some modern Windows applications. Bugs and crashes can occur, documentation is sometimes sparse, and it is not yet suitable for daily production use. As a result, it works better as an experimental or educational system than a reliable everyday OS. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** ReactOS is solving the problem of dependence on proprietary Windows licensing and limited control over the operating system, especially for legacy or specialized applications. It benefits me by providing a free, open-source Windows-compatible environment where I can test, learn, and experiment without licensing costs, reuse older software and hardware, and better understand how Windows internals work. This makes it particularly useful for development, education, and legacy system testing rather than full production use. ### 3. Open-Source Windows Compatibility in a Lightweight, Familiar Environment **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sourabh B. | Software Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 20, 2026 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** The best thing about ReactOS is its vision to provide Windows application and driver compatibility while being completely open source. It allows users to explore a familiar Windows-like environment without licensing costs. Its lightweight nature and open codebase make it very useful for learning, experimentation, and testing legacy applications. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** ReactOS is still in an early development stage, which makes it unreliable for daily or production use. Many features are incomplete, system stability can be an issue, and hardware and driver support is limited. The community support and documentation are helpful but not yet as mature as other operating systems. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** ReactOS helps solve the problem of dependency on proprietary Windows systems by offering an open-source alternative with similar compatibility goals. It is especially beneficial for developers and learners who want to test Windows-based software, study operating system internals, or work with legacy applications in a free and lightweight environment. ### 4. Free, Open-Source Windows Alternative That Cuts OS Licensing Costs **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Hospital & Health Care | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2026 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** ReactOS is an alternate to windows and offers free and open source operating system designed to run windows compatible applications. It offers most of the Windows familier features and saves OS license cost at the same time. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** ReactOS has a small community and its not stable to run enterprise grade applications. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have small low priority IT support applications run on ReactOS which are not business critical and helped us to save significant OS licensing cost. These are legacy appliations and runs perfectly on ReactOS platform. ### 5. Promising Open-Source Alternative to Windows **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** andré P. | WEB DEVELOPER, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 07, 2025 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** I like that ReactOS aims to provide full compatibility with Windows applications while being completely open source. It’s lightweight, fast to boot, and works surprisingly well on older hardware. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** It’s still in an alpha stage, so stability can be an issue. Some drivers and applications don’t work perfectly yet, and updates come slowly compared to mainstream operating systems. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It provides a way to run Windows-compatible software without licensing costs or heavy system requirements. It’s especially useful for testing legacy applications or setting up lightweight virtual environments. ### 6. Versatile Features and Reusable Components Enhance Productivity **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mehafooz P. | Software Engineer, Computer Software, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 17, 2025 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** The wide range of features and we can reuse the components. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** For large code bases it is taking time to build. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Data visualization ### 7. Feature Review for the product **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 12, 2024 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** I like ReactOS for some reasons which are listed below - 1. Compatibility -It is compatible with Windows applications and drivers. And, our organization windows so we use this freely. 2. Free and Open Source - The best part is it's free. 3. Familiar Interface - It has a good UI. 4. Potential for Customization - As it is open source, we can customize it according to our business needs. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** It has limited hardware support and sometimes a slow development pace. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Vendor Lock-In- ReactOS offers an alternative that allows users to break free from vendor lock-in by providing compatibility with Windows applications and drivers. Cost - Due to open source, it is free to use and customize. ### 8. Perfect alternative to Windows **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Hospital & Health Care | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 22, 2024 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** If you wish Windows was open source, you should look into ReactOS Even if it is in alpha stage, it is getting more stable every release. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** You can't open MSI installers, which is a very significant problem. Also, Game Maker Studio games don't open for some reason. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Amazing experience the installation, tests and running! I tested some applications: Arduino, Cura, Lazarus and Scribus. There wasn't a deep test, but I have no problems. None problem with this apps. ### 9. Very easy and easy to access **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Neha S. | Senior Software Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 21, 2023 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** Easy to integrate.optimized the cost as it's free to use. Easy implementation **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** No comment all good. Happy with product. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Reduce my cost for os licencing ### 10. Best Linux - If switching from windows to Linux. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Piyush G. | Programmer Analyst, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 10, 2021 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** What I really like the most is that there are many other Linux distributions as well, which try to look like windows, but they are not that compatible like Zorin, Ubuntu-mate, etc. And on the other hand, we have React OS, which is really compatible can be a complete replacement for Windows. It supports most of the applications I was working on my windows machine earlier. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** The interface can be upgraded. It looks I am working on Windows XP with the power of Windows 10 **Recommendations to others considering ReactOS:** As I said earlier, it is the best Replacement for windows. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Using Windows Applications in an open-source Linux machine, what can it offer more? ### 11. Good Open Source OS **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 29, 2021 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** 1. It is free and open source. 2. Easily compatible with applications. 3. Written in Easy to understand language C and JavaScript. 4. Written from scratch and is Linux-based, which is well known for a time. 5. Development is easy. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** 1. User data safety is the primary concern. 2. It is less stable though provides good functionality. 3. It Doesn't stand out from its other competitors in the market. 4. Still under development stage **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** My purpose is to learn the basic concept of OS and hence made a sample project using it. The significant advantage of ReactOS is that it’s free, and it doesn’t involve any re-learning for Windows users as switching to Linux or Mac does, and customization is easy ### 12. Open source Operating System for natively running Windows applications. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** ravi m. | Software Development Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 20, 2019 **What do you like best about ReactOS?** So, taking a look at ReactOS, it's a free and open-source operating system that has been built from the ground up to run native Windows programs. **What do you dislike about ReactOS?** Things like wscript and cscript may not exist in reactOS. Corrupting the boot partition or MBR is still possible. Nothing will work 100%. (ReactOS will corrupt itself before we will get malware.)  **Recommendations to others considering ReactOS:** Highly recommend it to others. **What problems is ReactOS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I've known ReactOS for a few years, now. This is something that I really would like to see finished and fully operational. It has a lot of potential as well. It was also useful for understanding how files are stored in FS. ## ReactOS Discussions - [What is the features of each OS?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-features-of-each-os) - [Is ReactOS dead?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-reactos-dead) - [What is the point of ReactOS?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-point-of-reactos) - [What can ReactOS do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-can-reactos-do) - [when will you g](https://www.g2.com/discussions/when-will-you-g) - 1 upvote - [View ReactOS pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/reactos/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=5§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-07+10%3A40%3A23+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=f2947a19-58a1-44a5-93d1-f9c0432f7b41&secure%5Btoken%5D=1992f80609bfdc3f4e161be971bd742317f23f3ee0a05d07c6e73c7ed281a66d&format=llm_user) ## ReactOS Features **Memory Management - Operating System** - RAM management - App Management - File Management **Device Management - Operating System** - I/O management **Backup and Recovery - Operating System** - Data backup **Error Detection - Operating System** - System operations monitoring **Additional Functionality** - Generative AI - Data Security - User Interface - Resource Allocation - System Updates - For Developers - AI Copilot - Desktop Interface ## Top ReactOS Alternatives - [Linux Mint](https://www.g2.com/products/linux-mint/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (187 reviews) - [Windows 7](https://www.g2.com/products/windows-7/reviews) - 4.2/5.0 (873 reviews) - [Windows 11](https://www.g2.com/products/windows-11/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (4,120 reviews)