Hello,
A few years ago, I heard of an OS in development called ReactOS, designed to be compatible with windows programs. I didn't notice it again until a few months ago, when I downloaded an ISO of it and gave it a try. It didn't work with all windows programs I tried on it, but most worked. Many will wonder why this should be used rather than simply using WINE. Well, Linux was designed to be a clone of UNIX originally, and as such, is not designed to work with windows programs. ReactOS was actually programmed from the core to be compatible, and does take use of some WINE DLLs and codes. The OS is very small, a RARred live CD ISO is only 26MB to download. I suggest several people give this alternative OS a try, it's not done yet, but already quite impressive!

I've tried to use ReactOS but it's still too unstable to run outside a virtual machine environment. ReactOS can become a viable open source Windows compatible operating system. The only problem is that it also doesn't have enough software compatibility with Windows software.

xboxrulz

ReactOS is currently still in beta and isn't fully ready for mainstream deployment as a distribution / operating system. In terms of its ability to run Windows applications and programs, it is not compatible with all programs, making it not that useful at the current time.