A new program that can create PDFs on RISC OS hit the platform today in the form of PDFmaker by R-Comp. The application is part of the new PDFsuite, which was released this week and also includes a PDF document viewer that can print out documents. The collection costs just under 20 quid and will be on sale at the Wakefield 2008 show. :: :: PDF documents have swelled in popularity as more and more computer platforms support them. They are usually produced by DTP and graphics applications, ...

Web giant Google confirmed this evening it will stump up $20,000 to pay for four undergraduate programmers to work on the NetSurf project this summer. :: :: More than two dozen students from around the globe applied to work on the open source web browser after the project was accepted into Google's Summer of Code 2008 scheme. Four were this evening confirmed after the NetSurf developers spent the weekend whittling submissions from students down to a shortlist of six before finally settlin...

RiscPC-hardware emulation software VirtualRiscPC is now officially available for flash Apple Mac computers after spending a year in beta testers' hands. A full release is now shipping after selected brave punters test drove the software and offered their feedback to VRPC publisher VirtualAcorn so that bugs and other issues could be addressed. :: :: In May last year, VRPC was first made publicly available as a beta to Apple PowerPC Mac users. In October, a version went on sale for new Int...

Programmer Steffen Huber says he has managed to burn a Blu-ray disc using his Iyonix and RISC OS 5. Steffen, who develops the popular CD and DVD-writing package CDVDBurn, announced his breakthrough during the early hours of today. :: :: Blu-ray discs are the same physical size as normal CDs and DVDs but can cram on far more data - as much as 25GB for single-layer and 50GB on dual-layer discs - by using blue-violet lasers. This impressive storage capacity makes the discs useful for backin...

The next version of RISC OS graphics package ArtWorks will be able to import PDF documents, developer Martin Wuerthner said this week. ArtWorks 2.8 is expected to be released in May but a pre-release build could be made available in time for the Wakefield 2008 show this month. :: :: In the new version a PDF document can be dropped onto the ArtWorks icon and the software will import the file complete with multiple pages, CMYK colours, spot colours, graduated fills, transparency, clipping ...

The timetable for the Wakefield 2008 show presentations was revealed this week. The show talks give companies and prominent individuals a chance to put their work into the public spotlight and spend an hour or so touting their wares to eager audiences. :: :: This year, RISC OS Open will start the proceedings at 10.30am and are likely to summarise the shared source project's progress over the past year. The team may also hint at what is to come. At 11.15am, RISCOS Ltd boss Paul Middleton w...

RISC OS software publisher R-Comp is taking over development of the Image Animator series and Touch Type from Iota Software with the hope of rolling out new updates as soon as possible. New versions could be shipped as early as April's Wakefield 2008 show, according to R-Comp today. :: :: The packages were originally aimed at the RISC OS market but are now also available for Microsoft Windows users. Image Animator is, as you'd expect, a program that allows people to create simple animatio...

Popular 3D shoot-'em-down flight simulator Star Fighter 3000 has been treated to a facelift, as these screenshots show. The game has undergone a graphical spring clean, been given a new title screen and gained some new music. :: :: And how the game once looked: :: :: Originally developed in 1994, Star Fighter 3000 was created by Fednet Software, which also produced other Acorn gaming greats including Stunt Racer 2000 and Chocks Away. Like Stunt Racer 2000, SF3K pits players against each othe...

A website was launched this week for punters who fancy a go at creating software for vintage Acorn 8-bit hardware. RetroSoftware.co.uk was set up to give a helping hand to anyone who wants to take a nostalgic trip back to the days of hacking together 6502 assembler code or wants to experience writing for 1980s microcomputer hardware for the first time. Beta testers, musicians, artists and illustrators and other contributors are also welcome to join in, we're told. :: :: It's hoped the sit...

Web-savvy, all-round cool catz of the internet who know their FaceSpaces from their MyBooks, and use RISC OS, can let everyone know they're fans of the world's greatest operating system by signing up to a new, blue web page near you. :: :: Facebook users now can become fans of RISC OS by joining a new page created by user Mike Carter, pictured, and hopefully spread some of that ROS joy to the rest of the interweb. :: :: Mike, who previously set up a separate RISC OS user group on Facebook, s...

RISC OS user John Ward, who this week resigned his seat as a local councillor in Kent following a controversial blog post that called for the sterilisation of parents on benefits, has vowed to continue his RISC OS magazine column. John, who used ROS on a laptop with VirtualRiscPC for all his public Medway Council duties and advocated a 'paperless' approach to work, pens a regular series for Qercus, in which he describes how he uses RISC OS effectively as a councillor. :: :: His latest pie...

When asked what they most like about RISC OS, many enthusiasts are likely to mention the fluid, slick and intuitive manner with which user and computer interact. In other words, the graphical user interface, or the GUI as the geeks would have us call it. With RISC OS, the GUI encourages all applications to work in a similar way, and to have the same feel. Faced with new RISC OS software, a user already has a good idea of how to drive it and explore. :: :: Drag-and-drop between easily resi...

Programmer David Snell has quietly sneaked out a number of interesting developments, including a new tool that produces PDF documents from RISC OS Draw files. Modest Dave has produced Draw2PDF, a brand new application that does what it says on the tin: it converts vector drawings into PDFs and costs less than 20 quid. :: :: He has also updated his technical drawing package ProCAD+ to include a PDF export facility. Punters can request a free upgrade featuring the new PDF output support. :: ...

A handful of former Acorn grandees who helped bring the BBC microcomputer to the masses held a happy reunion at the Science Museum in London today. The group met up for the first time in 20 years, we're told, at a get-together organised by the museum's Computer Conservation Society to celebrate the legacy of the Acorn 8bit microcomputer. :: :: In attendance were Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper, pictured, from Acorn and John Radcliffe and David Allen from the BBC, who were among those who o...

This is the remarkable screenshot of VirtualRiscPC running on a Linux desktop - a sight longed for by many open sauce types who wish to use the emulator on their computers. Theo Markettos was able to get VRPC running on his Ubuntu GNU/Linux system with the help of Wine, a nifty piece of kit that tricks Windows applications into thinking they are running on Microsoft's operating system when really they are on top of Linux or some other Unix. :: :: Published by VirtualAcorn, the commerciall...

Web giant Google is set to pay programmers to work on and improve NetSurf this summer. The web browser project was today accepted into the Google Summer of Code 2008 scheme, which promotes and funds open source software development. It's hoped the move will dramatically boost the profile of NetSurf, sparking further development of the freely available application. :: :: Projects, such as NetSurf, are invited each year to enter Google's summer coding programme with a list of ideas for futu...

A collection of RISC OS printer drivers written by Jonathan Briggs is now available for all to freely download from the information superhighway. The software can be used to drive printing kit made by Epson and HP, and was previously available by dropping Jonathan a friendly email. :: :: It's understood Jon spent many years developing the drivers, which support high resolution and high quality output via the standard RISC OS !Printers system - although they are not quite photo-quality. Th...

IMS reader... Click for full size :: :: Instructions for updating the IMS Microsoft Dinosaurs reader to work on a StrongARM RiscPC, under RISC OS 3.7 or 4.39, are now available from riscos.org. The instructions also explain how to get the Microsoft Ancient Lands reader working on StrongARM computers. :: :: The Dinosaurs reader was one of a series developed by IMS in the mid-1990s, to allow some of the educational CDs produced by Dorling Kindersley and Microsoft to be used on the Acorn platfo...

Icon Technology's Mike Glover, who publishes the popular TechWriter and EasiWriter software packages, has announced he is quitting the business. He said he will stand down after 24 years as boss of Icon and close down his company by the end of March. :: :: ArtWorks programmer Martin Wuerthner, who has been working on the TechWriter word processor family for the past four years, is set to take over the reins and sell the product himself. :: :: Mike, pictured here, said today: "After 24 years...

In October 2006, I wrote an article highlighting some of the ways in which RISC OS could have its look and feel modified. I concluded that, although there was much that could be done to improve the somewhat dated look of RISC OS 4.x, there were significant barriers to creating complete replacement themes. To my mind, the OS support for adding new themes, or 'skins', to RISC OS was strangely incomplete, which was a somewhat frustrating situation. :: :: The purpose of this article is to dra...

Please read your RiscPC's manual as well as this article. Follow this gentle guide at your own risk. :: :: As a software developer, when I bought my Iyonix, I felt that I ought to hold on to my StrongARM RiscPC. Saddled with a forked OS, it seemed wise to keep a finger in each pie, and thus ensure that my software remained 100 percent reliable whatever flavour of RISC OS it was run on. :: :: The years have rolled by, and both machines have proved to be tough and reliable. :: :: To begin with, I...

Following on from this week's news that a new version of the RISC OS Firefox port has been released, it appears developer Peter Naulls has produced a copy suitable for RiscPC-class machines. The 'unique' RiscPC hardware prevented users of those machines from running the previous build of the open source web browser. You can download the latest versions from the Autobuilder here. :: :: A new beta version of image viewer Thump is available. Video player KinoAmp is now up to version 0.37 aft...

A new version of the RISC OS Firefox 2 web browser port has been released today for punters to download. Release 3 has been significantly bug-fixed and uses the latest source code from the mainstream Firefox project. Port developer Peter Naulls is still keen for donations to fund his work on the mammoth, open source browser. :: :: According to Peter, the latest RISC OS release uses the 2.0.0.12 upstream source including security and stability fixes, no longer has the bug that prevented it...

RISC OS Open and Castle have today published a new batch of RISC OS source code on the riscosopen.org website for everyone to get their grubby mitts on. This third installment of code comes after the first load of software blueprints were released in May and a second barrage in October, last year. :: :: The latest batch includes the messy insides of the RISC OS 5 USB system, various low-level hardware-related modules and a library for applications that use networks and the Internet. :: :: In...

A RISC OS show on the European mainland will take place this year in May. The Big Ben Club has decided to organise the event to celebrate its 25th anniversary and picked a new location for the continental event. Last year's show failed to materialise due to the organisers' inability to find a suitable venue. :: :: However, the RISC OS Experience 2008 event is all set to take place at Wijkgebouw de Vuister in Koog aan de Zaan, Netherlands - just 10km north of Amsterdam. Doors open frpm 10a...

RISC OS software publishing house R-Comp have managed to squeeze out updates to three of their products in time for tomorrow's South West 2008 show. NetFetch 3, Messenger Pro 5 and DataPower 3 have been improved and registered users are set to receive the latest versions for free in an email soon. Everyone else can pick up the latest copies at the show. :: :: In an announcement, R-Comp staff said: "We are pleased to announce that new versions of three popular R-Comp products will be debut...

Saturday, February 23, is the day of the South West Show 2008, held in north Somerset in the UK. Joint organised by RISCOS Ltd and the Wessex ARM User Group, the show will again be hosted by the Webbington Hotel, in Loxton, near Axbridge. Doors are open from from 10am until 4pm, and entry is free. :: :: The event will be held in the main ballroom as usual and theatre presentations will be held during the day. Punters can also enjoy free wireless internet access at the event, and a free ar...

The formerly commercial picture management software PhotoFiler has been released as a free download for all. PhotoFiler 2.08 is now available with its source code from a website near you after being previously sold by Warm Silence Software. The program latches onto the RISC OS Filer to display little thumbnails of images on the desktop, not unlike the Filer thumb-nailing support in RISC OS Select, Adjust and Six. :: :: The thumbnails are supposed to help punters to quickly pick an image f...

Tributes were paid this week to RISC OS software developer and interactive fiction writer Peter Killworth, who lost his fight with motor neurone disease late last month. :: :: Peter, who worked as an ocean modeller for the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton, died on January 28, leaving a wife and two sons. He worked on top RISC OS graph plotting program Tau after taking over the software from original author Tim Birks. In the 1970s and 1980s Peter was best known...

With Valentine's Day approaching, a partner that I was keen to impress and a current obsession with computer animation, I recently went for a wander around the web. I was in search of inspiration. Animated GIFs have long been a part of the internet experience and so I began my search with fairly high hopes that I would be able to gather together some interesting ideas, add a personal touch of some sort and have something tasteful to present to my loved one. :: :: I was surprised by the lo...

A new website to encourage teamwork in RISC OS software projects has launched this week. The RISC OS Connect online skills database allows punters to list their various abilities, from programming to documentation writing, and declare how much free time they can spare a week. Ideally, people looking for someone with a particular skill or experience for a project can then find their man, or woman, in the database and drop them an email to request their assistance. :: :: It is hoped the web...

Exclusive - Top Acorn Computers luminaries are planning a reunion for former company staff to mark the firm's 30th birthday, drobe.co.uk has learned. Big names including co-founders Hermann Hauser and Chris Curry, pictured, will join ace engineers Chris Turner, Sophie Wilson and Laurence Hardwick at the event scheduled to take place in September. :: :: According to the group's website, "We are planning an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the foundation of Acorn Computers. To aid...

Popular life management package Organizer is unlikely to go open source as its author has found someone to oversee future development of the commercial closed source software. Programmer Chris Morison was last year close to releasing the blueprints to his program for all to delve into and improve before emigrating to New Zealand. However this week Chris has decided the taste of open sauce isn't right for Organizer and has handed the program over to RISC OS user Nigel Willmott to manage...

The Wakefield show is returning to its roots as this year's event will be hosted by the hotel where it first opened in 1996. Its organisers, the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club, confirmed today the event will take place on Saturday, April 26 at the Ceder Court Hotel in Wakefield, which is where the first ever Wakefield show took place. :: :: This year's event, sponsored by Advantage Six and MW Software, will include a show theatre, and companies and groups wishing to exhibit are asked to...

Opinion - One of the first novelties of owning a new computer is the speed increase over your previous model and so is the case with this writer's new Aria Cube Iyonix. So far I'm nicely impressed by this computer, including its speed. In fact, one of the reasons that finally convinced me that the RiscPC had given it's full service was that, even with the accumulated upgrades and patching over the years with room for yet more, the performance of the computer was proving frustrating. :: ...

And now a brief round-up of news from this month. :: :: Music player DigitalCD now supports FLAC and Desktop Tracker files... Image viewer and editor PrivateEye 2.75 can now read information embedded in JPEG images (metadata such as EXIF) and caches pictures in memory... Internet search tool Searchy has been bug-fixed and updated.... A new version of RiscOsNet, a peer-to-peer file sharing program, is available... Richard Darby has described on his website how to get Oregano2 working with ...

Review - For a minority platform, RISC OS still has a surprising number of arguably good-quality applications and tools available. There are good, actively maintained graphics, design, audio, diary, email and messaging programs out there, as well as serious development tools, such as the GCCSDK. Nonetheless, there are key omissions too. The most serious of these has always been, from a typical user's point of view, the lack of a web browser and a media player capable of coping with the...

Review - It's been at least a decade since I started a new year without a calendar. This year, for inexplicable reasons, no one gave me one for Christmas. Socks: yes. Pants: yes. Calendar: sadly not. It's not as if my expectations are high. A picture of some sort, above a grid of dates, and each date in a box big enough to write a note or two within, such as things like 'dentist at 2.30pm'. :: :: I had a vague recollection that Ray Favre had written a most fulsome application to produce ...

A RISC OS show will be held next month in the peaceful south western corner of England, it was announced this week. The South West 2008 event was organised by RISCOS Ltd after the usual show manager John Stonier decided to step down from the role. :: :: This year's show will take place, as expected, in the Webbington Hotel, Loxton, near Axbridge, North Somerset, on Saturday February 23, from 10am to 4pm. The hotel is 25 miles south of Bristol - a 10 minute drive from Junction 22 of the M5...

Opinion - Martin Hansen's article Maudlin over RISC OS reminded me of how I became a RISC OS user all those years ago. Unfortunately, it made me think about what made me abandon the platform a couple of years ago too. :: :: Harsh reality? :: My last RISC OS computer was an A9home, and, putting its little quirks aside, what made me stop using it and finally put my usage of RISC OS to an end, was quite simply that I could not do anything that I wanted to do using it. I could list at length al...

Opinion - New Year is traditionally a time in which the achievements, surprises and disappointments of the previous year are reflected upon. Often, in spite of the fireworks and wild parties, time is set aside in which to dwell upon one's private thoughts. As 2008 is now underway I've found myself mulling over my involvement with RISC OS. Whether I like it or not, my involvement in the Acorn and RISC OS scene has been a significant part of my life over the past 27 years. :: :: I've spent ...

Time is up. The votes have been counted. The results are in. With less than 24 hours to go until the end of the year, a small perl script has informed us who has won this year's Best of 2007 awards. The chosen few, selected by drobe.co.uk readers, should come as no surprise to anyone closely following the RISC OS news scene over the past 12 months. :: :: Without giving too much away before unveiling the winners, it appears RISC OS users, or at least those who read Drobe and voted on the s...

Beeb and ARM processor co-designer Professor Steve Furber has been recognised in the New Year Honours list. The University of Manchester boffin, who was part of the team that produced the BBC Microcomputer and the ARM chip for Acorn in the 1980s, was made a CBE for his services to computer science. :: :: Whilst studying at university in the 1970s, Steve joined a club for computer hobbyists, the Cambridge University Processor Group, and later became involved in Acorn after bumping into com...

A free update to PDF authoring package RiScript was released in time for Christmas this year. Version 5.04 is compatible with RISC OS 6 and can save out files in CMYK colour, which is useful for professional printing. :: :: It can display and print in RGB colour and greyscale, export to PDF in RGB, CMYK and greyscale colour, export to drawfile format in RGB and greyscale colour, and supports PostScript 3 masked images. The new release can also embed fonts in documents and can export docum...

Paul Stewart reveals how he gets the most, pound for pound, out of RISC OS upgrades. :: :: Good value for money is something all of us RISC OS users, like most right-thinking consumers, desire. Whether or not we actually get it when buying RISC OS products is often argued over, usually when we compare our beloved platform with the likes of Windows, Linux and Mac OS. We constantly bemoan how expensive things like OS upgrades are when compared to other platforms. It especially hurts when yo...

The turkey's been eaten and we're waiting for our Christmas pudding to be served up with rich brandy sauce. Hic. So in the meantime allow us to wish every one of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. The past 12 months have been a blast, and it was made all the more better by your comments, forum posts and emails. Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to read our articles and participated in discussions. :: :: Many thanks also to everyone who contributed to Drobe this year, f...

Put down your mince pie. Mull over that wine a little more. It's time to decide who's been naughty and who's been nice this year: it's the Drobe Best of 2007 Awards. We've drawn up a shortlist of nominees for you, dear readers, to vote on and pick who will be crowned Best of 2007. :: :: The closing date for votes is midnight December 30, so please take a look through the list below and vote using the online form here. The winners will be announced on December 31. :: :: Drawing up the shortli...

Here's a round-up of RISC OS news from this month to fill you with some Christmas cheer. :: :: Built to last: Alan Buckley has unveiled a new website that automatically produces the latest versions of several RISC OS ports of programs and games. The Autobuilder takes the source code from open source packages originally written for Unix-like platforms, and compiles them into RISC OS applications, ready for download by punters. :: :: Alan says the Autobuilder has freshly baked a new release of...

:: :: Just weeks after CDs packed with the private information of millions of people were lost in transit comes the shock news that the NetSurf team's banner has been accidentally gobbled up by the postal system. :: :: The 6ft wide custom printed plastic banner, gifted to the developers as a donation, was posted by programmer John-Mark Bell to fellow developers Rob Kendrick and Daniel Silverstone for the pair to use at the recent Christmas 2007 RISC OS show in Warwickshire. But the massive ...

In brief - The RISC OS Christmas 2007 show will take place tomorrow at a swanky Warwickshire venue. Late breaking news before the event: RISCOS Ltd will be flogging their updated volume three of the Programmer's Reference Manuals (as reported back in October). R-Comp have changed their technical support hours to 12pm to 6pm to cope with their "growing workload". :: :: It's hoped punters unable to make it to the other big shows of the year in the north and south of the country can drop by ...

The two opposing corners of RISC OS have apparently agreed to join forces and jointly coordinate development of the OS. RISCOS Ltd, who produce RISC OS 4 and 6, and RISC OS Open, who are overseeing RISC OS 5 development, promised this week to, effectively, chat to each other over a coffee. :: :: History :: Currently the source code to RISC OS is split between two competing camps. ROL are concentrating on building up RISC OS 6 using the source they licensed many moons ago during the break-up...

Welcome, dear reader, to a top quality super soaraway round-up of RISC OS news we probably should have covered by now but haven't quite found the free time to do so - until now, of course. Without further ado: :: :: Manic psychedelic arcade game Spheres of Chaos is now available for free after previously being a shareware product. An unlock code is provided for the frankly bonkers yet fantastic Asteroids-on-steroids clone. Developer Iain McLeod is said to be working on a new version for r...

First came the Lego-built desktop cases. Now we have a laptop, of sorts, made from the ever popular little plastic bricks. Peter Howkins has managed to pack an aging A7000 into what resembles a portable case, complete with a 10" LCD screen. :: :: Boasting an impressive 4MB of RAM, RISC OS 3.60 and an ARM7500 processor with integrated video and audio electronics, the laptop also includes a 2GB 2.5" hard disc, an EtherH network card and a PS2 keyboard. The display can stretch to 640x480. :: ...

The RISC OS Christmas 2007 show is fully booked with exhibitors, its organisers said this week. The event will be hosted at a swanky Warwickshire venue in December, according to organisers the ARM Club and the Midlands User Group. :: :: It's hoped punters unable to make it to the other big shows of the year in the north and south of the country can drop by the Midlands-based event to pick up some early Christmas presents. :: :: The list of exhibitors includes: The ARM Club; The Midlands User...

Next year's Wakefield RISC OS show, held in the north of England, is set to take place in April, drobe.co.uk understands. Event organisers at the Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club have reportedly pencilled in a date of Saturday April 26. :: :: The show usually takes place in the month of May but a suitable venue has already been booked for April. In previous years, an athletics stadium in the Yorkshire city of Wakefield has hosted the show but 2007 saw a shift to a countryside conference ha...

RISC OS 5 users will soon be able to print pages from NetSurf after one of the web browser's developers stepped in to fix Castle's printing system. Using the !Printers source code released via the RISC OS Open project, NetSurf developer John-Mark Bell was able to rectify a bug blocking printing from the freely available web browser. :: :: His patchwork, now accepted into the printing system by ROOL staff, will also enable other applications to print documents containing non-Latin letters ...

The Linux desktop could learn a thing or two from RISC OS, an opinion piece in the super-soar-away INQ argued this week. The current desktop offerings for GNU/Linux users are too similar to Microsoft's little known Windows operating system, believes freelance IT hack Liam Proven - and penguinistas should take a leaf from the book of RISC OS to get some fresh ideas, he adds. :: :: In an article published on Sunday, Liam wrote: "Microsoft is complaining that 'the Linux desktop including Ope...

RISC OS Select subscribers were issued an update pack yesterday that enables Filer keyboard shortcuts. The new feature allows users to navigate directories and open files using fairly standard keystrokes. The free upgrade for Select 4i2, which was released in April and is powered by RISC OS 6, is available from the RISCOS Ltd website. :: :: According to the release page, the update pack includes the "latest roll up of disc-based updates and bug fixes for Select 4 issue 2." :: :: A brief note...

This is the new style finder due to be rolled into the recently announced upgrade to the TechWriter family. While version 8.72 of the word processor is on the verge of being shipped to punters, developer Martin Wuerthner revealed the software will now include, as well as a style editor, a style finder - which can quickly show users the font and appearance attributes applied to text under the caret. :: :: A mole who has used the new functionality said the utility hovers next to documents a...

Database application DataPower 3 is complete and ready to be released in time for the South East 2007 show, publisher R-Comp said this week. The DTP-style package includes various new features, including networking support as standard. :: :: The upgrade has been dedicated in memory of original DP author Neil Raine, who died aged 45 in a hang gliding accident last March. R-Comp took over development of DataPower in February 2003 from original publisher Iota Software. :: :: R-Comp's Andrew Raw...

RISC OS Open, the community driven organisation tasked with opening up RISC OS 5, is set to release more operating system components this weekend. The ROOL team plan to publish the next batch of RISC OS source code on the day of the South East show in Guildford, Surrey. :: :: Although the ROOL guys are keeping the exact details closely guarded, the components due for release include the Window Manager, the Font Manager, the USB printer stack, the Toolbox modules, ADFS, RAMFS, FileCore, Fi...

Bitmap graphics package PhotoDesk has been updated and a new version will go on sale from this Saturday. The software has been improved and tweaked, and a new release is ready to ship at the South East show on October 20. :: :: CJE boss Chris Evans confirmed: "There is a new version of PhotoDesk with various improvements and bugfixes. To get an update, PhotoDesk users should bring their original PhotoDesk CD with them to the show." :: :: It's understood version 3.08 will allow punters to sca...

The RISC OS South East show, taking place this Saturday in Guildford, Surrey, will see a number of new products unveiled - from databases to graphics. Here's a round up of what you can expect to see revealed this weekend. :: :: Headlining the event are R-Comp, CJE Micros and Icon Technology with their new releases. R-Comp will have on sale copies of DataPower 3, CJE Micros have an upgrade for PhotoDesk prepared, and Icon will launch a new version of TechWriter and EasiWriter. :: :: On top of...

Word processing packages EasiWriter and TechWriter will gain a new style editor in their next version, namely 8.7. The new release, set to be made available in time for the South East show on October 20, will allow users to easily define various text styles, which can be applied to documents. :: :: Typefaces, colours, text position and other settings can be chosen in the new style editor. :: :: This new functionality, pictured, was added after EW and TW users voted on the features they most ...

Two programmers hoping to overhaul the RISC OS PostScript system were this week handed copies of the RISC OS printing system source code. Martin Wuerthner and John Tytgat were granted access to the blueprints of the RISC OS 6 printing system in order to improve it. The source code was supplied by RISCOS Ltd. :: :: It's understood Martin and John want to fix a number of long-standing issues in the way RISC OS generates PostScript and provide PostScript level 3 features. The duo want to tac...

A new program that alerts users to new versions of software and helps punters search for programs to download is nearing completion. :: :: Beta testers are needed to test drive Martin Avison's new Rover utility, which can keep track of installed programs and sense when new versions are available for download. :: :: Rover uses the riscos.org software database to hunt down applications and look up new releases. Although users can access the database through a normal web browser, Rover provides...

ARM has launched a new project to bring Mozilla Firefox and a bevy of browser plugins to next-generation hand-held gadgets - and has teamed up with a gang of chip manufacturers and GNU/Linux developers to make it happen. The project could benefit the RISC OS platform if the work, expected to be released under an open source licence, can be smoothly ported from ARM Linux. :: :: Chip design outfit ARM and its partners hope to bring a mobile version of the Gnome desktop, the Firefox web brow...

Media Watch - - Bi-monthly magazine RISC OS Now was branded RISC OS Sometime this week by its readers, who have received two issues in a year-long subscription. :: :: Having each forked out 25 quid for a six-issue subscription this time last year, some of the magazine's readers are fed up of waiting for copies and explanations for the delays to arrive. :: :: Subscriber Michael Chappell said no one from RISC OS Now't had dropped him an email to give him a progress update. :: :: He commented: "I'm ...

A prototype VoIP client allowing users to make phone calls over the Internet will be unveiled next week. Device driver developer Dave Higton says he's ready to demonstrate a partially-complete RISC OS client that can call a PC running open source VoIP package Ekiga. His software, written in BASIC V on his Iyonix, is not ready to receive incoming calls. :: :: VoIP, or Voice-over-IP, breaks conversations up into packets of compressed data and sends them over a network, such as the Internet,...

German news website ArcSite is celebrating its 10th birthday this weekend. A frequently updated website for RISC OS and Acorn users, ArcSite has published news and features for free for the past decade - and its maintainers have vowed to continue. :: :: The website began life as the Internet home for the Arche Acorn User Club, and included links to other homepages and a simple forum. In 1997, the site offered webspace to Acorn users. ArcSite as we know it formed when Carlos Michael Santil...

ARM set out its next-generation processor design stall this week by unveiling a four-core CPU clocked at 1GHz. But chips featuring the Cortex-A9 technology will not arrive until 2010. :: :: However Nvidia, NEC, Texas Instruments, ST Microelectronics have reportedly committed themselves to employing the Cortex-A9 on future silicon - as have Samsung, who manufacture the ARM9 CPU for the RISC OS 4.42-powered A9home. The link between the names 'A9' are purely coincidental. :: :: The Cortex-A9 ch...

Users of Intel-powered Apple Macs can from today buy copies of VirtualRiscPC for their shiny computers. Publisher VirtualAcorn announced this morning a new version of their commercial RiscPC emulator that is suitable for both PowerPC and Intel Macs. The beta-quality software was previously PPC-only but now uses a universal binary executable. :: :: This latest release of VirtualRPC-AdjustSA also supports RISC OS 6, and features updated video display code, better mouse pointer handling and ...

A charity-backed project set up to fund future RISC OS software development has so far gained little interest, it was revealed today. In a progress update to members of the RISC OS Connect mailing list, the project's founder Graham Shaw said he had hoped for "a core of activists" to step forward to help out. :: :: The RISC OS Connect project was formed in May following a fringe meeting at the Wakefield 2007 event. It was hoped a charity could eventually be set up to bankroll a website off...

Printing support is coming to the A9home platform, retailer CJE Micros confirmed this week. Gaffer Chris Evans said printing documents over a network and direct to a device will be possible, provided a suitable driver file is available. :: :: The A9home USB-based printing system is known to support at least the Samsung CLP550 A4 colour laser printer, the Samsung ML1750 budget mono laser, the Canon iP4200 A4 colour inkjet, and the HP Laserjet 5000 A3 laser printer. Parallel port devices ca...

Media Watch - - As many of you have pointed out to us today, Simon Travaglia's BOFH has taken on a treasured RISC OS relic - the Acorn Archimedes. :: :: The infamously irascible and irreverent Bastard Operator From Hell, a popular long-running series on top IT website theregister.co.uk, manages to put a wrecking ball through the ever-touchy Apple community - and finishes with a right-hook knock-out for Acorn users. :: :: To reveal more would spoil the ending, so we'll leave you with just the l...

Computers should be sold without a bundled operating system, free-market think tank Globalisation Institute urged this week. In a submission to the European Commission, the Institute argued "bundling of Microsoft Windows with computers is not in the public interest, and prevents meaningful competition in the operating system market." :: :: Former RISC OS magazine and IT journalist Alex Singleton, who now heads the Brussels-based policy examining organisation, alleged the dominant position...

Professor Steve Furber, the brains behind the BBC Micro and ARM architecture, was this week awarded a top engineering industry gong. :: :: The former Acorn design manager received the Faraday medal, the most prestigious achievement award from the Institute of Engineering and Technology. It is given once a year for notable accomplishments in engineering and the professor joins a long list of distinguished names going back as far as 1922. :: :: Upon winning the award, Prof Steve said: "It is a...

RISC OS Open, the team responsible for opening up and sharing RISC OS 5, has let slip that they aim to release the next batch of Castle's source code by late October. :: :: Over the past few months ROOL have asked the community to nominate the components they would like to see in the next release. However, until now, there had been no hint of when this might be. Eventually an inquisitive user bravely asked on the ROOL forum when the next batch of code will be released. :: :: The team replied...

An informal get together for RISC OS users on the continent will take place this month. According to its organisers, the Big Ben Club, the event is supposed to replace the Dutch Expo show, which was cancelled in August. :: :: It's hoped the day will be a more laid back and relaxed affair, akin to a large user group meeting, rather than an official show - although everyone from enthusiasts to dealers are welcome. Free coffee, a LAN and Internet access will be provided, and the club will br...

Click for larger image :: :: Here is a rare screenshot of Oregano 3 running on RISC OS, demonstrating the web browser unfortunately canned earlier this year. The NovaTech website shown involves particularly tricky HTML that previous Oregano versions were unable to cope with, although this development build of O3, reportedly version 3.9.12, shows it handles the web page perfectly. :: :: In March 2005, dealer Richard Brown asked for punters who were willing to pay for a new version of Oregano ...

The new freeware MSN client for RISC OS, Parmesan, was officially released over the weekend. A beta version was distributed to a lucky few punters earlier this month, and after a round of bug fixing, author Christian Ludlam was able to turn out a stable release. :: :: The software, pictured, allows people to chat to each other in real-time over the Internet - ideally enabling RISC OS punters to converse with buddies using Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and other computer platforms. It's believe...

:: :: After spending a year in development, Steve Fryatt's home accounts program was officially released last week. The first stable version of freeware application CashBook is now available for download. :: :: According to Steve, CashBook can track money through any number of accounts, from banks and building societies to credit cards. Income and expenditure can be allocated to analysis headings, which can be used for budgeting or reporting. Transactions can be reconciled against statement...

Aemulor author Adrian Lees has published the start of a tool to help programmers fix bugs in device drivers and other low-level code. The work-in-progress debugger is aimed at aiding projects involved in the development of new operating system code, drivers and applications. :: :: When low-level code goes pear-shaped, software authors can fall back onto Adrian's program to dissect what went wrong. As it barely relies on RISC OS for help, his utility has a chance of being able to continue ...