Translation of article appearing at: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/as-02.12.02-000/ (c) 2002 Heise Zeitschriften Verlag. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Desktop Computer with XScale Processor It has been generally assumed that life has ceased to exist -- and so comes RISC OS, the desktop operating system for ARM processors, with Intel's XScale Processor injecting sprightliness into old limbs. It has been quiet in the Acorn/RISC OS scene. Acorn User magazine has become increasingly sluggish; one could seldom find anything new on the riscos.com, riscos.info or the German-speaking ArcSite (arcsite.de). At last, after 8 years, a new Desktop Computer with ARM Processor has come on the market -- except for a pair of educational systems with ARM 7500FE processors. A new computer called IYONIX is now available from Castle. It works with Intel's 600MHz XScale processor, which is over 2.5 times faster than its StrongARM-powered predecessor. That is comparable with Moore's Law (processor performance doubling approximately every two years) although still no giant leap, but after all a distinct step forwards. With the 1.2GHz ARM processor from Samsung (codenamed Halla) comes the possibility of the next, larger step for RISC OS. With DDR200 memory, the IYONIX PC is not quite at the cutting edge, in other respects it has an equivalent specification to current PCs. Admittedly, one must pay 2,100 Euros (1299 GBP with 128Mb memory), which is almost double that for an Aldi-PC. RISC OS enthusiasts who have waited for 8 years, will need to be prepared to dip deeply into their pockets.