Miss Windows XP or 7? Then I have a free, open-source alternative for you

ReactOS, a free and open-source operating system, is becoming much easier to install. It aims to provide a Windows XP or 7 alternative for users not ready to switch to Linux. This update makes ReactOS more accessible to a wider audience.

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PublishedMonday, May 4, 2026 at 7:28 PMMay 4, 07:28 PM

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If you're looking for a Windows alternative, but aren't ready for Linux, the open-source ReactOS is now as easy to install as Windows.

I recently wrote about ReactOS in "My 5 favorite open-source operating systems that aren't Linux." One of those OSes is ReactOS, which aims to look and feel just like Windows, but has nothing to do with Microsoft.

Although ReactOS is really easy to use, installing it has been, well, less so. When you go to download an ISO image for installation, you'll notice there's a live version and a boot version. The boot version is what you would use to install ReactOS, and when you go to do so, you'll find that it's an old-school, text-based installation.

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Miss Windows XP or 7? Then I have a free, open-source alternative for you

Original article excerpt