Which Windows applications and drivers are known to run reliably on ReactOS as of 2026?
Executive summary
ReactOS remains an alpha, community-driven reimplementation of Windows NT that can run a meaningful subset of legacy Windows applications and some drivers, but it is explicitly recommended for evaluation and testing rather than production use [1] [2]. Reported reliably working applications include older productivity and multimedia titles—examples documented by the project and reviewers are Adobe Reader 9.3, GIMP 2.6, LibreOffice 5.4, Microsoft Office XP, Adobe Audition 1.5, and legacy Firefox—while driver and modern-application support remains uneven and constrained by architectural gaps such as the absence of WoW64 on x86‑64 [1] [3] [4] [5].
1. The project’s goal and current development posture
ReactOS’s stated mission is binary compatibility with Windows NT family binaries (NT4 through Windows 7 era) implemented from scratch and maintained as an open-source project, but the codebase is under active development and the project cautions users that the distribution is feature‑incomplete alpha software intended for testing, not daily production machines [2] [1] [6].
2. Applications with documented, repeatable success
Multiple sources and the ReactOS project itself point to older desktop apps that routinely install and run: canonical examples cited by the project include Adobe Reader 9.3, GIMP 2.6, and LibreOffice 5.4 [1], while independent testing reported Microsoft Office XP (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Adobe Audition 1.5 installing and working smoothly in recent ReactOS builds [3]. Historical coverage and the project’s Application Manager have also shown older Firefox builds (Firefox 26) to be installable and usable [4]. Niche and legacy games such as Hover! have been highlighted in compatibility demonstrations after Explorer and fullscreen handling fixes [7]. These examples share a theme: older, non‑DRM, non‑store, native Win32 applications from the Windows XP/2003 era are the most reliable candidates [1] [3].
3. Drivers and hardware compatibility — practical limits
ReactOS targets the driver interfaces of Windows NT era systems, and progress in driver support is ongoing, but hardware compatibility is incomplete and varies by device; the project’s own documentation and reporting stress that driver support is a development focus but not yet comprehensive [2] [8]. A crucial architectural limitation frequently noted is the absence of WoW64 on x86‑64 builds, which prevents running 32‑bit Windows applications on 64‑bit ReactOS systems and therefore constrains both driver and application scenarios on modern hardware [5] [9]. The project recommends testing on virtual machines or spare hardware because misbehaving drivers can corrupt data [2].
4. Remaining failure modes and caveats
Despite steady improvements and 30 years of incremental work, ReactOS still exhibits crashes, incomplete APIs, and compatibility gaps with newer Windows APIs and copy‑protected software; reviewers and the project alike warn that some applications will install but fail to function fully [1] [3]. The project’s test coverage has historically lagged and was only recently modernized, which explains why some obscure APIs and edge cases remain unreliable [6]. Reporting that emphasizes “many applications work” must be read against the explicit qualifier that the system is for evaluation and testing only [1].
5. How to approach ReactOS in 2026 — pragmatic recommendations
For anyone evaluating ReactOS, the sensible path is to run current nightly builds or the latest 0.4.x release inside a VM, focus on legacy Win32 apps from the Windows XP/2003 era (the best candidates based on project claims and independent tests), and treat drivers cautiously—preferably using tested, simple legacy hardware or virtualized devices; follow ReactOS’s own guidance and community test results when selecting apps and drivers to try [6] [3] [2]. Where modern app compatibility or robust driver support is required, alternatives or virtualization of Windows remain necessary because ReactOS’s compatibility remains targeted but incomplete [5] [2].