ReactOS achieves NTFS installation after nearly ten years of driver work
ReactOS can now be installed and run from NTFS partitions using its own driver, though performance and security features remain incomplete.
Summary
The ReactOS project announced that its NTFS driver now supports installing and running the operating system from NTFS partitions, a goal pursued for roughly ten years. The driver can also format NTFS partitions compatible with Windows. Previously, ReactOS installations required FAT-based filesystems. The improvements are part of ongoing development rather than a new stable release.
What the NTFS driver still lacks
- No caching: filesystem operations run slower than they would with a complete driver
- No journaling: crash recovery features are absent
- No filesystem security features: Windows NTFS permission model not implemented
- Experimental status: undiscovered bugs expected; not production-ready
- Builds on prior work: FreeLoader bootloader gained NTFS boot support in 2022
Why it matters
NTFS installation removes a practical barrier for users evaluating ReactOS as a Windows alternative, though the alpha status and missing features mean it remains primarily of interest to developers and testers.
Original reference: linuxiac.com →