Open-Source Windows alternative ReactOS runs Half-Life 2 on a GTX 960

Q: Does ReactOS require WDDM specifically to run GPU drivers like the legacy NVIDIA driver used with the GTX 960?

Yes. The article says ReactOS added WDDM support and that WDDM support has enabled ReactOS to run older Windows GPU drivers, which is a key factor in getting games to run with legacy NVIDIA drivers like the GTX 960 example.

Q: Which other GPUs and driver pairings have been documented by the community to run games on ReactOS (for example the 8400GS used with original Half‑Life)?

The community has documented a GTX 960 running with legacy NVIDIA 368.61 drivers playing Half-Life 2, and an NVIDIA 8400GS being used to run the original Half-Life (the article does not specify the driver pairing for the 8400GS).

A YouTuber shared 10 hours of gameplay footage showing Half-Life 2 running on ReactOS and a GTX 960 with legacy nvidia drivers. Half Life 2 runs at 60fps.

Aaron Klotz

Tech Reporter

Published Jul 9, 2026 3:50 PM CDT

1 minute & 15 seconds read time

TL;DR: A YouTuber posted 10 hours of Half-Life 2 gameplay showing ReactOS running the game at 1440p on a GTX 960 with legacy NVIDIA 368.61 drivers, reportedly at about 60 FPS with 6x MSAA and 16x anisotropic filtering. WDDM additions enabled use of older Windows GPU drivers, aiding game support.

Voice: DefaultSpeed

0:00 / 2:01

Open-source Windows alternative ReactOS has finally reached a state where the operating system can play games. Discovered by Phoronix, a ReactOS user uploaded footage on YouTube of Half-Life 2 running on ReactOS at 1440p using a GTX 960 graphics card running on legacy NVIDIA 368.61 graphics drivers.

The game reportedly ran "basically perfectly" with 6x MSAA and 16x anisotropic filtering. Judging by the gameplay footage, the game appears to be running at 60 FPS or better with no apparent frame drops that we could count. Granted, we did not scrub through all 10 hours of the uploaded gameplay footage.

Playing a game that initially came out in 2004 might not sound significant, but it's a big deal for this specific OS. ReactOS is a 30-year-old project that has been written entirely from scratch as an open-source alternative to running Windows apps. Progress has been slow, but recent work has been done to get display driver support more aligned with modern versions of Windows by adding WDDM support to the OS. WDDM support has enabled ReactOS to run older GPU drivers designed for Windows, which is a key factor for getting games to run on the open-source operating system.

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Does ReactOS require WDDM specifically to run GPU drivers like the legacy NVIDIA driver used with the GTX 960?

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Which other GPUs and driver pairings have been documented by the community to run games on ReactOS (for example the 8400GS used with original Half‑Life)?

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Half-Life 2 isn't the only game that has been able to run well; another user was also able to get the original Half-Life game to run on ReactOS using an 8400GS a month ago. ReactOS is still a long way off from being a fully fledged open-source Windows competitor, but it's promising to see its gaming capabilities grow.