ReactOS 0.4.16 has been released!

Work on the next version of the ReactOS operating system took a year and a half. Version 0.4.16 has just been released.

ReactOS is a free and open-source operating system. The developers’ goal is for the system to be as compatible as possible with Windows systems.

Version 0.4.16 continues to aim for compatibility with Windows Server 2003, but at the same time, work is underway on interfaces and library exports to ensure compatibility with newer versions of Windows.

The new version of the system introduces a number of new features and fixes many bugs.

Two separate ISO images have been replaced with a single, universal one. Until now, ReactOS had separate Live and installation versions. With the combination of these two functionalities into a single ISO image, a new graphical installer is now available in the system. It is now possible to install the system directly from Live CD mode.

Many of the bug fixes relate to graphics card support. AMD and NVIDIA drivers should now work better and be much more stable.

The new HD audio driver should, in turn, enable all HS Audio drivers for Windows XP and Server 2003 to work in ReactOS.

Another major change is the new ATA driver. The previous one did not work in some environments. A disk cleanup tool has also been added.

The changes also extended to networking. A new DC21X4 network adapter driver has been added to ensure greater hardware compatibility. Changes to the network handling itself should also significantly improve performance.

When using the system in a server environment, Core mode is now available. Similar to Windows Server 2008, it disables the graphical shell.

In addition, WineVDM has been included with the system, giving it greater compatibility with 16-bit applications.

ReactOS 0.4.16 is available for download from the ReactOS project website.