Topic: ReactOS® is an effort to create a Free and Open Source replacement for Windows

[Software Santa]

ReactOS® is an effort to create a Free and Open Source replacement for the Windows NT OS! NOTE:
ReactOS 0.4.12 is still under heavy development (alpha stage) and is almost ready for everyday use.

(SOMEDAY this might be of use to you .....)

http://www.reactos.org/download

About ReactOS ReactOS® is an effort to create a Free and Open Source replacement for the Microsoft Windows NT® family that is compatible with both applications and drivers. The NT® architecture has always been highly flexible and powerful and its continued dominance in the computer industry means it is one of the most supported family of operating systems in existence, with its latest iteration being Windows 8.

 As these days operating systems are little more than gateways to applications that users want to run, an open source NT implementation would allow users to continue using familiar programs in a familiar environment. The project seeks to embrace the strengths of the NT family while avoiding many of the configuration decisions that made older versions of Windows vulnerable and maintaining a lightweight environment so that a computer's resources can be dedicated to what really matters to the user, running their applications.


You can help the ReactOS project by word-of-mouth advertising, donating money to the ReactOS Foundation or by spending time on the ReactOS project and contributing in one of various ways (submitting a patch, helping with website and OS translations, posting in the community forum, etc.).

ReactOS Project ReactOS® is a free open source operating system based on the best design principles found in the Windows NT® architecture (Windows versions such as Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 are built on Windows NT architecture). Written completely from scratch, ReactOS is not a Linux based system, and shares none of the UNIX architecture.
The main goal of the ReactOS® project is to provide an operating system which is binary compatible with Windows. This will allow your Windows® applications and drivers to run as they would on your Windows system. Additionally, the look and feel of the Windows operating system is used, such that people accustomed to the familiar user interface of Windows® would find using ReactOS straightforward. The ultimate goal of ReactOS® is to allow you to use it as alternative to Windows® without the need to change software you are used to.
ReactOS 0.3.15 is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature-complete and is recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes.

http://www.reactos.org