May 13, 2026
Windows drama, now with extra baggage
ReactOS
ReactOS gets a full-time boost, but the crowd is still asking: who actually uses it
TLDR: ReactOS just hired contributor Carl J. Bialorucki full-time after he helped lead its latest release, giving the old project a rare momentum boost. Commenters, though, were split between impressed survival-story energy and brutal doubts that it matters in a world where Linux can already run many Windows apps.
ReactOS, the long-running dream of building a free operating system that behaves like old-school Windows, just got a very human plot twist: contributor Carl J. Bialorucki has gone from community helper to core developer to release lead, and now he’s officially been hired full-time by ReactOS Deutschland e.V. That’s a big deal for a project many people treat like a fascinating internet relic that somehow refuses to die. Carl helped with the project’s desktop and file browser improvements, joined the core team in 2024, then stepped up to lead the 0.4.15 release in 2025 when the previous release manager had to bow out. Cue the underdog montage.
But the comments? Absolutely not in a celebratory mood. One drive-by reaction simply sighed, “Not funny anymore,” which is the kind of line that lands like a meme and a roast at the same time. Another commenter immediately had to clarify, “unrelated to React,” because yes, whenever people see “ReactOS,” someone out there thinks of the web coding tool React. Classic internet chaos.
The real debate was harsher: is this project inspiring, or has the world moved on? Several commenters basically said, why bother when Linux plus Wine or Proton already lets people run many Windows programs? One person flat-out asked whether anyone uses ReactOS in anything like real work. Ouch. Still, another commenter dropped a “30 Years of ReactOS” link like a reminder that this project’s greatest skill may be survival itself. The vibe: equal parts respect, skepticism, and gallows humor.
Key Points
- •Carl J. Bialorucki says he became known in the ReactOS community by contributing several shell improvements.
- •He was added to the ReactOS core development team in May 2024.
- •He led the release of ReactOS 0.4.15 in March 2025.
- •He took over release leadership because the previous release manager could not continue working on the project.
- •He announced that he was hired in May 2025 for a full-time contract position with ReactOS Deutschland e.V.