This release is a huge milestone for the developers and comes after years of work. FreeDOS can be used to play old DOS games (quick multiplayer session of Duke3D, anyone?), but could also prove vital to the thousands (if not millions) of users of DOS legacy applications around the world. On more than one occasion I’ve seen a cash register or stockroom database at a store running DOS (usually on some old and bashed-about early 90s PC, seemingly always from Compaq…).

Unlike FreeDOS, the Windows clone ReactOS is still in its early stages but continues to come along in leaps and bounds, and has recently reached version 0.3. The project is also celebrating its 10 year anniversary. I wrote about ReactOS a month or so ago, after I installed the 0.3 RC release and played around for a while. In short, it’s not for everyday use, but is extremely promising and has already achieved a lot. It should definitely be on your list of OS projects to keep an eye on.