ReactOS 0.3.13 improves memory management

More than five months after version 0.3.12 arrived, the ReactOS development team has released version 0.3.13 of its Windows compatible React Operating System. According to the developers, the latest version of the OS brings a number of improvements over the previous version, including a Coverity scan which helped to "clean up potential security holes", as well as "improve general stability by enforcing more care in memory operations".

ReactOS is a free open source operating system based on the Windows NT architecture (Windows XP/2003) design. It is intended to be binary compatible with existing Windows applications and drivers.

ReactOS 0.3.13 features a new heap manager based on the Windows 2003/Vista architecture, improving memory management, and includes support for dynamic video mode switching. Other changes include better graphics driver compatibility, installer fixes, support for additional SATA devices and fixes for more than 280 bugs, including 80 regressions. The new release also brings improved compatibility for Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Mono 2.8, Stellarium 0.10.2, VLC 1.1.5 and Skype 4.

The project is still at an alpha stage, as it has been since its first release in 1998, and therefore is not currently recommended for production use. Users testing the release are encouraged to provide feedback and report any bugs that they encounter.

The project also announced that it was accepted as a mentoring organisation for this year's Google Summer of Code (GSoC) event. This will allow the ReactOS developers to work with students in developing ReactOS and pass on their experience in creating a Windows compatible operating system.

More details about the release can be found in the official release announcement and in the change log. ReactOS 0.3.13 is available to download and an installation guide is provided. ReactOS is released under the GNU General Public License, while some included components are released under different licenses, such as Wine which is available under the LGPL.

See also:

• ReactOS 0.3.13 Released, ReactOS mailing list announcement.

(crve)