Generic name for Microsoft Windows

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middings
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Generic name for Microsoft Windows

Post by middings »

What is the generic name for operating systems like Microsoft Windows (all editions) and ReactOS Foundation's ReactOS?
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EmuandCo
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Re: Generic name for Microsoft Windows

Post by EmuandCo »

Generic name? Theres none. All of em are macro aka hybrid kernel based OSes and all base on the NT (== new technology) architecture.
ReactOS is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature-complete and is recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes.

If my post/reply offends or insults you, be sure that you know what sarcasm is...
Z98
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Re: Generic name for Microsoft Windows

Post by Z98 »

There isn't a catchall for "all" Windows and ReactOS. We use NT operating system for ReactOS and the Windows OSes based on NT.
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Konata
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Re: Generic name for Microsoft Windows

Post by Konata »

Of course that excludes 1.0 through 3.1 and 95, 98, and ME (collectively "9x") since they're not based on NT.

"NT" is the closest you'll get for anything based on the architecture of Windows from 2000 and up (even if there are version of Windows based on NT before that, but, nobody cares about those and never really did). If you're looking for something similar to the brand name "Unix" for defining an OS architecture, "NT" is as close as you'll get. Of course, Unix/POSIX is a standard while NT isn't formally standardized (but it never changes much either).
bernarddt
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Re: Generic name for Microsoft Windows

Post by bernarddt »

When I need to refer to all Windows OSes and ReactOSes I would just say "Windows based Operating Systems".

It is similar to calling all the Linux distro's and variants "Unix based OSs". If you only refer to the Linux distro's you would call it "Linux based OSs".

Windows was first and they designed the architecture design that we are copying. Just as Unix was first and Linux copied the architecture. I'm not saying that they did not go on and enhance and change what they needed from that but that was their baseline.

The only point this "generic" term is making, is that software that run on these OSes are most likely compatible or easily ported between them.
erkinalp
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Re: Generic name for Microsoft Windows

Post by erkinalp »

Windows-like operating system.
-uses Ubuntu+GNOME 3 GNU/Linux
-likes Free (as in freedom) and Open Source Detergents
-favors open source of Windows 10 under GPL2
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