Editing ReactOS (section)

===ReactOS core development===
ReactOS is primarily written in [[C (programming language)|C]], with some elements, such as ReactOS Explorer and the sound stack, written in [[C++]]. The project compiles using both [[MinGW]] and [[Microsoft Visual Studio]], and contributes to the development of the build systems used through the submission of [[patch (computing)|patches]] to its components.<ref name=waterloo />

The developers aim to make the kernel and usermode application programming interface (API) more compatible with Windows NT version 5.2 ([[Windows Server 2003]]) and to add support for more applications and hardware, with plans to target newer versions of Windows as development matures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reactos.org/pipermail/ros-dev/2015-March/017216.html |title=ReactOS versioning|date=7 March 2015 |publisher=ReactOS|access-date=2015-03-07}}</ref> [[DirectX]] support is undertaken through ReactX, an in-house implementation. 2D and [[OpenGL]] 3D hardware-accelerated rendering is done natively, while other drawing functionality such as [[Direct3D]] is redirected to OpenGL as a stopgap solution, mostly using [[Wine (software)|Wine]]'s code such as [[Wine (software)#Direct3D|WineD3D]].<ref name=2008review /><ref>{{cite web |date=28 May 2014 |title=ReactX |url=https://www.reactos.org/wiki/ReactX |access-date=15 February 2022 |website=ReactOS Wiki}}</ref>

The development progress is influenced by the size of the development team and the level of experience among them. As an estimate of the effort required to implement [[Windows 7]], Microsoft employed 1,000 or so developers, organized into 25 teams, with each team averaging 40 developers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2008/08/18/windows_5F00_7_5F00_team.aspx |first=Steven |last=Sinovsky |title=The Windows 7 Team |publisher=Engineering Windows 7, MSDN |date=2008-08-18 |access-date=2009-12-09}}</ref> {{As of|2011|09|02}}, in the ReactOS entry in [[Open Hub|Ohloh]], the page followed through the "Very large, active development team" link lists 33 developers who have contributed over a 12-month period and a [[wikt:cumulative|cumulative total]] of 104 present and former users who have contributed code to the project via [[Apache Subversion]] since its inception.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohloh.net/p/reactos/ |title=ReactOS |publisher=Ohloh |access-date=2011-09-02}}</ref> In his presentation at Hackmeeting 2009 in Milan, ReactOS developer Michele C. noted that most of the developers learn about Windows architecture while working on ReactOS and have no prior knowledge.<ref name=notwindows />

While ReactOS targets mainly the [[x86]]/[[x86-64|AMD64]] [[personal computer|PC]] platform,<ref>{{cite web |date=2014-01-20 |title=Installing |url=https://www.reactos.org/wiki/Installing_ReactOS |access-date=2014-02-10 |publisher=ReactOS}}</ref> an effort to port to the [[ARM architecture]] was at one point "under way",<ref name="2008review">{{cite web|url=https://www.osnews.com/story/20790/reactos-looking-back-upon-2008/|title=ReactOS: Looking Back Upon 2008|last=Holwerda|first=Thom|date=17 January 2009|website=[[OSNews]]|access-date=18 April 2019}}</ref> while it did not produce much functionality and was abandoned<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reactos.org/wiki/ReactOS_ports|title=ReactOS ports - ReactOS Wiki}}</ref> along with a port to [[PowerPC]], that is no longer actively maintained.<ref name=chemnitz /> Support for the [[Xbox (console)|Xbox]] and the [[NEC PC-9800]], a variant [[IA-32]] architecture, was added through the use of an architecture-specific [[hardware abstraction|HAL]].<ref name=notwindows /><ref name="0.4.13" /><ref name="0.4.14" /> Improved 64-bit support for ReactOS is "being worked on", however, development seems to be going slowly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/reactos/reactos/labels/x64|title=ReactOS GitHub (Label: x64)|website=[[GitHub]]|access-date=11 August 2019}}</ref>