I think a lot of people ignore the fact that the ReactOS and Wine projects have a symbiotic relationship. Work on ReactOS will lead to improvements on Wine, and vice versa.
So it's still a useful project for the common user, even if the final product of a fully functional Windows NT clone is still far from being realized.
But actually - there's another, even more interesting use for ReactOS that I'm surprised has yet to be attempted.
A lot of people seem to praise the NT kernel on an architectural level for its microkernel-like features and object system, but it's buried between the cruft that forms the rest of the Windows stack. A free software reimplementation like ReactOS could actually allow for people to exploit the untapped potential of the NT kernel by fusing it with other userlands. Think in the vein of GNU/kFreeBSD. Perhaps a FreeDOS one? Either way, the novelty value is certainly high.
I've been given the impression that NT's superior kernel architecture is why they are doing this. But they also want other people to care so they also try to get Windows apps working on it too.
From what I've seen the past few years, ReactOS just picks up what WINE does. I don't think they're contributing much. Its pretty much a pet vanity project and has been for a decade.
So it's still a useful project for the common user, even if the final product of a fully functional Windows NT clone is still far from being realized.
But actually - there's another, even more interesting use for ReactOS that I'm surprised has yet to be attempted.
A lot of people seem to praise the NT kernel on an architectural level for its microkernel-like features and object system, but it's buried between the cruft that forms the rest of the Windows stack. A free software reimplementation like ReactOS could actually allow for people to exploit the untapped potential of the NT kernel by fusing it with other userlands. Think in the vein of GNU/kFreeBSD. Perhaps a FreeDOS one? Either way, the novelty value is certainly high.