Is your proposal related to a problem?

Hi! Would you consider adding experimental ReactOS support to this project?

ReactOS is not Windows, but it is an open-source Windows-compatible operating system, so it could be useful for lightweight testing, demos, and experiments with Win32 software in a Docker/QEMU environment.

I understand that this may require a separate image/profile and may not work exactly like real Windows. Even a basic experimental build based on ReactOS nightly ISO would be valuable.

I can help with testing and reporting issues if needed.

Thanks for your work on this project.

Describe the solution you'd like.

I would like to see optional experimental ReactOS support, either as VERSION=reactos or as a separate dockurr/reactos image.

This should probably not be treated as a real Windows container or as a full Windows replacement. ReactOS is a separate open-source Windows-compatible operating system, and it is still alpha software. But since this project already runs full Windows through QEMU/KVM inside Docker, ReactOS could fit as a lightweight experimental VM profile.

A minimal first version could:

• download a ReactOS BootCD ISO, preferably latest nightly build;
• create a small qcow2 disk image under /storage;
• boot/install ReactOS through the same web/noVNC interface;
• use conservative QEMU hardware defaults instead of requiring virtio-only devices;
• clearly mark the feature as experimental;
• allow manual installation at first, with automated installation added later if practical.

This would be useful for Win32 compatibility experiments, ReactOS testing, demos, education, and bug reproduction without requiring a Windows license.

There are already external Docker/QEMU ReactOS images, so the concept seems feasible. The value of adding it here would be the unified dockur-style UX, storage handling, browser access, and easier setup

Describe alternatives you've considered.

I considered a few alternatives:

• running ReactOS manually in QEMU or VirtualBox, but that loses the simple Docker-based setup and web UI that this project provides;
• using existing third-party Docker/QEMU ReactOS images, but they do not provide the same unified dockur-style experience, storage handling, and configuration model;
• using Wine instead, but Wine is not a full operating system and does not test the same scenarios as booting a Windows-compatible OS;
• using a normal Windows image, but ReactOS would be useful specifically for open-source, license-free Win32 compatibility experiments.

So the main value would be having ReactOS available as an optional experimental profile in the same workflow as the existing Windows VM images.

Additional context

Some useful references:

• ReactOS official website: https://reactos.org/
• ReactOS source code: https://github.com/reactos/reactos
• ReactOS download page: https://reactos.org/download/
• ReactOS nightly builds / BootCD images: https://reactos.org/getbuilds/
• ReactOS QEMU documentation: https://reactos.org/wiki/QEMU
• Existing third-party Docker/QEMU ReactOS image: https://hub.docker.com/r/hectorm/qemu-reactos
• Source repository for that image: https://github.com/hectorm/docker-qemu-reactos

The most relevant point is probably that ReactOS already documents QEMU usage and provides BootCD/nightly ISO images. There is also already at least one third-party Docker image that runs ReactOS through QEMU, so this proposal is not about inventing a completely new approach. It is more about adding an optional, experimental ReactOS profile to the existing dockur-style workflow.