ReactOS 0.4.11 Released with Kernel Improvements, Support for More Windows Apps

[The AchieVer]

ReactOS 0.4.11 Released with Kernel Improvements, Support for More Windows Apps 

 

The ReactOS team released today a new semi-major version of their free and open-source computer operating system that's binary-compatible with apps and device drivers designed for Microsoft Windows.

ReactOS 0.4.11 is now available for download, coming four mounts after the 0.4.10 version to bring you even more new features, improvements, and better support for your favorite Windows apps. Talking about that, this release adds better support for .NET 2.0 applications and enables support for Blender 2.57b, QuickTime Player 7.7.9, Evernote 5.8.3, Bumptop, and many other apps.

Running more Windows apps is important for the ReactOS team since they try to win ex-Windows users who want to use an open-source operating system on their computers with the same capabilities of Microsoft's OS. Therefore, one of the most significant changes in ReactOS 0.4.11 is the work done to improve the Win32 subsystem to enable support for IceChat 7.63 and Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition 1.3 (32-bit).

"Those familiar with the NT family’s basic design will recall that prior to the NT6 line that began with Windows Vista, there was a substantial block of functionality implemented inside the kernel space of the operating system. This block is commonly referred to as win32k, and because of its wide-ranging kernel-level privileges, problems within win32k can hard crash the entire system," said the ReactOS team. "Fixing that related functionality was the focus of much effort by several developers."

Under the hood, ReactOS 0.4.11 adds many improvements to the kernel to enable better file I/O, improved disk partition backups  using the ODIN app, better BTRFS support, and support for running ReactOS on more modern platforms thanks to the UniATA compatibility added to the AHCI SATA controllers on machines powered by 6th Gen Intel Skylake processors.Users can now upgrade existing ReactOS installationsAnother great enhancement implemented in the ReactOS 0.4.11 release is the ability to upgrade existing ReactOS installations thanks to improvements made to the USETUP module by developer Hermès Bélusca-Maïto. This important change also adds the ability to perform in-place updates without losing your user data and any configuration files you might have, a feature that will be more mature in future versions of ReactOS.

Other improvements implemented in ReactOS 0.4.11 include bidirectional text support, better TCP and UDP connection enumeration support to enable various apps for network debugging and diagnosis, and updated components like ACPICA v20181003, Wine Staging 3.17, and PCI hardware ID database 2018-11-21. Of course, there are numerous other smaller changes included in this release, so check out the full changelog for more details.
 

 

 Blender 2.57b running within ReactOS

 

 

 ReactOS text mode setup with upgrade option

 

 

 Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition 1.3 running on ReactOS

 

 

 

 

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