# ReactOS reaches milestone with bootable NTFS driver

> **Key takeaway:** ReactOS's NTFS driver has matured enough to install and run the operating system, though caching, journaling, and security features remain unimplemented.

**Published:** 2026-10-17T22:01:16+00:00 
**Source:** Phoronix Linux Gaming & Graphics Drivers 
**Category:** open-gaming 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/reactos-reaches-milestone-with-bootable-ntfs-driver.html 

## Summary
ReactOS, the open-source Windows-compatible operating system, has achieved a significant milestone with its NTFS file-system driver now capable of handling installation and daily use. NTFS formatting support has also been added. The project notes this brings it closer to a long-awaited beta release. However, the driver still lacks performance-critical features like caching, plus journaling and security support.

## What's still missing in ReactOS NTFS
- **No caching**: disk I/O is slower than other NTFS implementations
- **No journaling**: crash recovery and metadata integrity features absent
- **No security support**: ACLs and permissions not yet handled
- **NTFS formatting**: newly added alongside read/write for installation
- **Undiscovered bugs**: project acknowledges possible remaining issues

## Why it matters
This milestone strengthens ReactOS's viability as a free Windows alternative for legacy software and hardware compatibility scenarios. The remaining gaps in caching and security will need to close before broader production use becomes practical.