Editing Microsoft Windows (section)

== Alternative implementations ==
<!--Please do not put generic IBM PC emulators here. This section is only meant for programs that implement the Windows API. -->

Owing to the operating system's popularity, a number of applications have been released that aim to provide compatibility with Windows applications, either as a [[compatibility layer]] for another operating system, or as a standalone system that can run software written for Windows out of the box. These include:
* [[Wine (software)|Wine]] – a [[free and open-source]] implementation of the [[Windows API]], allowing one to run many Windows applications on x86-based platforms, including [[UNIX]], [[Linux]] and [[macOS]]. Wine developers refer to it as a "compatibility layer"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wine |url=http://www.winehq.org/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404215516/http://www.winehq.org/ |archive-date=April 4, 2014 |access-date=April 5, 2014 |publisher=Winehq.org}}</ref> and use Windows-style APIs to emulate Windows environment.
** [[CrossOver (software)|CrossOver]] – a Wine package with licensed fonts. Its developers are regular contributors to Wine.
** [[Proton (software)|Proton]] – A fork of Wine by Valve to run Windows games on Linux and other Unix-like OS.
* [[ReactOS]] – an open-source OS intended to run the same software as Windows, originally designed to simulate Windows NT 4.0, later aiming at Windows 7 compatibility. It has been in the [[development stage]] since 1996.
*<!--The following entry is added per [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Freedows OS (2nd nomination)]]-->'''Freedows OS'''&nbsp;– an open-source attempt at creating a Windows clone for x86 platforms, intended to be released under the [[GNU General Public License]]. Started in 1996 by Reece K. Sellin, the project was never completed, getting only to the stage of design discussions which featured a number of novel concepts until it was suspended in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Student's Dream of Creating A New Operating System Encounters Problems |url=http://chronicle.com/article/A-Students-Dream-of-Creati/103396/ |work=[[The Chronicle of Higher Education]] |date=18 September 1998 |accessdate=17 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.advogato.org/person/chipx86/diary.html?start=134 |title=Older blog entries for chipx86 |work=Advogato.org |publisher=Advogato |date=27 June 2002 |accessdate=17 May 2013 |archive-date=May 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520072808/http://www.advogato.org/person/chipx86/diary.html?start=134 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://features.slashdot.org/story/98/08/31/2231220/freedows-splits |title=Freedows splits |work=[[Slashdot]] |publisher=[[Dice Holdings]] |date=31 August 1998 |accessdate=17 May 2013}}</ref>