Alpha, VirtualRiscPC revisited - RISC OS News, Software and Information

Alpha, VirtualRiscPC revisited

Published: 16th Aug 2003, 02:19:54GMT Source: drobe.co.uk
By Chris Williams

Page 1 of 1

More detailed end user report

As a follw up to a previous article reporting end user opinions of the MicroDigital Alpha portable, Alpha user John McCulloch has written up his own report on the MicroDigital laptop solution. John 'recently' grabbed the headlines by publishing a set of RISCOSmark benchmarks of RISC OS running on the Alpha. The benchmarks showed that the Alpha significantly outperformed a 200MHz StrongARM RiscPC in the memory and harddisc access tests.

We know that any reviews or reports on the Alpha are largely going to be reviews of Virtual RiscPC. The Alpha is a disturbingly average 2GHz Celeron WindowsXP non-badged laptop with all the standard expected features and interfaces. The important point is that Alpha features Virtual RiscPC to emulate a RiscPC in order to run RISC OS 4 on it. Virtual RiscPC is brought to you by the same people who developed and marketed Virtual A5000.

Emulation is a bit of a taboo subject and it's probably something we just might have to get used to. Is it better to run RISC OS over emulation on some gigahertz wielding i686 hair dryer, or should we remain purists and stick to the ARM cores? What if emulation speed overtakes top speeds attainable by the latest ARM cores? One of our own pet niggles against emulation is seeing people running legacy versions of RISC OS 3.x on their PCs.

Screenshot from John's Alpha

However, VRPC has shown that it's possible for RISC OS 4 and Select to be properly licensed and run over emulation. VRPC is unfortunately tied down to the Alpha and a standalone version of VRPC doesn't appear to be arriving any time soon. VRPC also unfortunately doesn't allow RISC OS to talk to the laptop's network interface and a solution to this, we've learnt, is beyond the horizon too.

On with the report. John writes,
As you may recall I submitted benchmarks for my MicroDigital Alpha, just after I took delivery of it. At the time I promised that I would report more fully on the machine once I had got to know it better. I have read with interest and not a little dismay, the ramblings of the many who no doubt feel that it is wrong to use emulation to achieve a workable RISC OS Laptop. Well I can only say that the product is living up to my expectations and has encouraged me to keep up to date with RISC OS developments.

I have since upgraded from RISC OS 4.02 to RISC OS Select 3i1. I wish that I had done this from the start. As I backed up my files and programs to CD ROM using !CDBurn on my StrongARM RiscPC and copied over the files and programs, only to realise that RO 4.02's CDFS does not preserve the file names in upper and lower case - thus causing me to have to convert oodles of files and applications from uppercase only to mixed case. I would suggest that if you intend to acquire an Alpha, and have a RiscPC or A7000, make sure they are all upgraded to Select before transferring files across with CD ROMs.

A fair amount of the last 5 weeks have been spent learning about Windows XP Professional and optimising it and making it as efficient as can be achieved. It loves filling harddrives. The 15GB harddrive was nearly two thirds full when I realised that Windows generates back up copies of itself called restore points, these have to be deleted and limited in size, in order to protect your drive space.

There are advantages in having Windows there all the time. Access to the internet is achieved using Internet Explorer and email/usenet using Outlook Express. I did download Gemini but couldn't seem to get the news side to work.

As far as Windows software, in general, is concerned I won't be hurrying to migrate. All of the photo retouching applications I have so far tried on Windows would make the proverbial dog yelp. The user interfaces are pathetic. I have downloaded Sun Microsystems StarOffice 6.0, but only as I need access to an Excel workbooks type spreadsheet as most of my pals are dyed in the wool Windows users.

Ok, Windows plus points above, negatives far out weigh the advantages. Its file handling is a joke. File saving is naff. When it comes to my other hobby amateur (Digital) photography, RISC OS shines. All my work in touching up and editing of images is done firmly in RISC OS and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. Yes, the Alpha allows me to download images from my Fuji FP602 Zoom to it via USB, but from then on its RISC OS all the way.

I have found that the speed of the IDE bus has transformed applications like !Studio_24Pro and !Photodesk. They no longer stall when loading large JPEGs. I routinely save 6 mega pixel images as 2.4MB JPEGs and load them into the above for processing. The machine's speed, as far as RISC OS is concerned, is a selling point on its own.

It well out performs my much loved and upgraded RiscPC. I still have retained it, as it has the advantage of being able to display large 24bit graphics on emormous resolutions thanks to a ViewFinder card. But with this upgrade, the Alpha positively appears to fly. According to the User Manual, the Alpha is capable of displaying up to 1920 x 1200 x 24bit natively on a suitable monitor. This I haven't as yet tried.

I would encourage anyone who is wondering about an Alpha to visit a local dealer and see one demonstrated. If anyone in the West of Scotland wants to see one in operation, email me I am willing to arrange a suitable demonstration. I am not a dealer. I have no axe to grind, just a well pleased owner.

Word of warning though: the Alpha should really be seen as a mains powered laptop. Yes, it will perform with the battery only, and there are a raft of battery saving schemes that destroy the performance of the Windows side as much as the RISC OS side. In maximise battery usage mode, the RISC OS machine is more like an A5000 than a StrongARM powered RiscPC.

John later told us that he can contact his local dealer for technical support. MicroDigital also offer a one year return-to-base guarantee if a major fault occurs. Incidentally, we pointed out to John that he could have zipped up his files before he transfered everything to the Alpha (and therefore escaped the upper case name problem).

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The Doctor (+0.5) 16/8/03 7:51AM	Your choice of course but with the total contempt that MD have for you and the press in general I don't see why you continue to advertise their products for them. Cheers!
AMS (+5.0) 16/8/03 11:02AM	One of the implications in the piece above is that the author bought Alpha as a means of getting a RISC OS laptop. Trouble is VARPC/Alpha make it difficult for anyone intending to produce a laptop - think about it their sales would be relatively small (maybe just enough to justify doing it at all) then along comes VARPC/Alpha and now the (hypothetical) manufacturer is faced with competition. End result no real RISC OS laptop will be made (ROL/Virtual-Acorn and MD please take a bow). The irony is that with RO5 and hardware abstraction out there it would have been more technically practical to produce a new RO laptop using later ARM processors (ARM9/xScale) - now well what's the point ? The other thing is the bulk of the money spent (allegedly) supporting RISC OS by buying the above package is going "outside" the RISC OS Market. Firstly to the no-name probably Taiwanese laptop manufacturer, then a big swagdge to Microsoft and then finally MD/VA and ROL fight over the scraps that are left. In fact I think I recall MD offering upgrades from XP Home to XP Pro (so now they're selling Microsoft products). Do remember to patch that XP John (MSBlast is still doing the rounds you know -- Annraoi McShane,
nunfetishist (+2.5) 16/8/03 11:09AM	The Alpha is an "average" 2GHz Celeron? I'll think you'll find it's a horribly cheap and nasty one, and is not representative of PC laptops.
hutchies (+2.5) 16/8/03 11:13AM	Doctor: Surely it is Drobe's duty as a news site to cover as many topics as they can, putting any personal feelings about companies aside? I think they do a marvellous job.
rdenk1 (+3.0) 16/8/03 12:04PM	@annraoi: What you are doing in the first alinea is a lot of speculation. Who is this (would-be) manufacturer of the new RISC OS lap-top? I have a much more optimistic point of view about the Alpha :" Something is bettter then nothing". It gives risc-os users a chance to use their favorite system on a laptop. I do agree with you though that a "native" RISC OS laptop is far more favourable. But since there isnt any, the alpha is "the best next thing" regards, Rick
jcmcculloch (+4.0) 16/8/03 12:45PM	Sorry about the blank message above, finger trouble. I have read the comments above, some of which are the kinds which I averred to in my review, with dismay. I think however I should reiterate for the benefit of those who describe the Alpha as a poor cousin of the current draft of Windows Laptops. This is most definitely not my view. I did a fair bit of research, both on paper and in person with all the usual dealers of PC Laptops and have been extremely impressed by the build quality, features and set up of the Alpha. yes it is at the budget end of the PC Laptop market, but never the less it is well built and extremely reliable. Yes I paid a premium going this route, I could have purchased the self same machine ex VRPC for about £900. But as RISC OS was a major requirement I thought the MD Alpha was well worth the extra. I too would have loved to see a native laptop......but we have only had one ever, Acorn's venerable A5000 clone the A4. RiscStation seemed to have stalled an awful long time ago. I wonder what would happen should MD ever consider a 3.6GHz processored Desktop system running VRPC....it might even be faster than Castles Iyonix, or their own Omega. I cannot see with my experience of VRPC why we maintain the aversion to Emulation. Yes it would be nice if there were native ARM processored machines. But they are always going to be twice the price of PC technology because of economies of scale. To those who must have RISC OS for everything. I think it is really time you tried using PC technology to see how back in the dark ages some of our hardware has returned. I personally would not consider much of Windows as an improvement on RISC OS, but in the use of the Internet, and Networking it is streets ahead of anything we have or are likely ever to have access to. If you want a laptop, get one now. Preferably one with RISC OS on it, either VRPC the MD route or VA5000. You will not regret it, and you will enjoy the benefits. 73 de john -- Mail: [Email: john [at] jcmcc1srp.freeserve.co.uk ] Call :GM1SRP Com:MicroDigital Alpha 2.0 GHz Celeron OSs:MS Windows XP Pro/RISC OS Select 3i1
microbits (+2.5) 16/8/03 3:01PM	This is a very short sighted view of a maket in decline. the main reason we are in this position, is that acorn would not let any company produce hardware to run Risc OS, so without competition there is no incentive to drive the market forwards. Acorn produced a large number of technicaliy very good product demonstrations like the newspad, the stork and the pheobe (cost a very large amount of Money) but did they go into production NO the accountants said that they would not be economically feasible, windows had already beaten them with better marketing. Pc's where allready making inroads into there core education market, so without a thought they packed up their stall and left all of their so called loyal users & Dealer network in the S*** without a paddle. After this exodus by the almighty Acorn we are left with a handfull dealers like myself, three or four companies that produce computers, motherboards and components some software developers and a company that is not interested in the desktop computer market at all, but for some twist of fate now owns the OS. we all know the names. So the remaining hardware companies invests a large sums of money to produce a product or products that we need to keep the RISC OS market alive. Over the Next few years we see a small amount of development of the computers we all aspire too. We lose dealers & devlopers by the bucket load. With each company theading their own path to their ultimate goal. The production of a New computer that can run RISC OS & all of your current software on So all of you loyal user out there can replace their ageing designed in the eighties,living in the past systems. With brand new state of the art systems that can do all the wizzy things that a standard run of the mill PC will do without braking sweat. So the upshot of this is that we now have a computer that is based on a PC but will also run everybody favourite Risc OS. Will any of the other hardware developers put the money up to fund an ARM based alternative. Or will they just say their is not a market because all of you loyal customers have moved away. So if you have to sleep with the devil to fund further development to keep the RISC OS market alive then that is fine by me.
AMS (+2.5) 16/8/03 3:35PM	jmccullough> No a 3.6GHz VARPC desktop pc would not be faster than an Iyonix. PC's do not scale linearly with clock rate (and are even less likely to do so when emulating foreign hardware). Bear in mind each new generation of Windows also slows them down (when .NET fully comes in where code may well be interpreted or JIT compiled expect a further big performance hit). If you're figures are right the bulk of the money you paid went to an unthanked anonymous Far Eastern PC manufacturer and Microsoft (much as I suspected). *In reply to microbits:* I find it utterly incredible that you're inferring that Castle have no interest in the desktop market (I note you don't even have the guts to name them). What justification do you have for this assertion ? I can if I wish buy an Iyonix (is that ahem a desktop machine YES), they have updated RO5.XX several times since launch, their documentation shows fundemental changes to the OS that would not simply be accounted for by being used in an embedded device. And by the way I would not consider the selling of a PC laptop with XP a means of supporting RISC OS. As to the simple minded notion of sleeping with the devil, what ever happened to Stac Electronics ? Yep they supped with Microsoft, and well it was all very sad what happened to them wasn't it (do a google search and see what you find ) -- Annraoi McShane,
AMS (+2.5) 16/8/03 3:40PM	*In reply to rdenk1:* Yes I was speculating, but one thing for certain a fair number of people did put money down (as deposits) on a portable with RiscStation. In effect there was a demand - that may well now be satisfied by a PC and Windows XP (and VARPC etc.,). That means anyone even contemplating a laptop RISC OS/ARM based machine wont. If RiscStation or anyone else was considering doing a portable they'd now have a more difficult time justifying it. The big winner in all this is Microsoft, much as usual..... -- Annraoi McShane,
fwibbler (+1.0) 16/8/03 4:28PM	*In reply to Hutchies:* - Yes, Drobe do a marvellous job. But, whilst you could look at things from that point of view (and I'm not saying you are wrong to do so), you could also look at things from another point of view. That view being that the RISC OS press get nothing but contempt from MD and yet the press continue to give them coverage and in so doing, advertise their company and their products. For free. Obviously it's up to each member of the press to decide for themselves if they wish to be used in this manner, or even if they see the situation in this way. Cheers!
fwibbler (+1.0) 16/8/03 4:33PM	*In reply to AMS:* - I think Microbits was reffering to PACE, not Castle. I could be wrong though.
rdenk1 16/8/03 4:43PM	@annraoi : Yes , a fair number of people did. But where is the portable ? Still on paper. I doubt it will ever see the daylight.. Personally I do not think that any other comapny might be intrested in developing a portable with RISC OS on it. Even riscstation... The effort done by MD is a step forward for the RISC OS Community . It fills a gap which no other company filled. And they used a pragmatic solution ( not a pretty one in mine pov) and we have a portable with RISC OS.... And it is indeed a shame that one guy in Redmond fills his pockets with every sale... But maybe the sales of the Alpha prooves that there is an "extensive" market for RISC OS laptops. So who knows it will bring MD to the idea to develop a real RISC OS laptop. ( wishfull thinking) regards, Rick
Snig (+0.1) 16/8/03 10:59PM	I think it is a great pity that you can't by VRPC stand alone. I would have thought they would be able to shift more copies if they did. Obviously licences and cess pits get in the way.
Spriteman 17/8/03 1:32AM	woo Snig, what has MD got to gain from standalone copies of VRPC? -- Spriteman.
Snig (+1.0) 17/8/03 7:33AM	A better public image? No, wait a sec. Maybe they could open more PC users eyes to what a wonderful OS RISC OS is so they will all go out and buy an Iyonix. No, wait a sec. That's not right. If I'm correct, and I'm probably not, MD are probably hoping to make mega dollar from the Alpha. Its production costs are bare minimum so it can start to pay back all the debt they've undoubtedly put themselves in by developing the Omega. What I'm trying to say is: The Alpha is probably holding Omega development up. It's all a bit of a joke really.
rdenk1 17/8/03 8:17AM	@snig: If VRPC would be avaible stand-alone what's left for MD to sell? And about the rest you are writing, its pure speculation. It would be better to stick to the facts. We have nothing to gain with wild speculations. Regards, Rick
Gulli (+1.0) 17/8/03 9:21AM	Surely the future of RISC OS does not rest on wether MicroDigital has anything to sell or not? So far they've done very little to earn my sympathy and honestly I don't think the RISC OS market has any need for MicroDigital any more, the Omega saga is one huge example of how not to present things - even after it's "public availability". If it really is available to buy why doesn't anyone know where to get one or at least why isn't it possible to get one? Do all the people that paid money in front have one ? Doesn't seem like it. Don't get me wrong though - the RISC OS market doesn't need Microdigital but it would be good if they got themselves together and started working with the rest of the market and get things going. Unfortunately, so far there's no indication of that happening. VRPC might give me a chance to get back to using RISC OS to some level, if only to give some support, buying the occasional piece of software and such. I will not be buying a low spec portable to do so. Wether or not one company will lose sales because of that I simply couldn't care less! -- Gunnlaugur Jonsson, Copenhagen, Denmark
rdenk1 17/8/03 9:53AM	@Gunnlaugur: No one has stated that the future of the RISC OS market is in the hands of MD. The fact that you think that the RISC OS market has no need for MD is , with all respect, your opinion. I , and others , do not share that vision. The omega can be bought. At this moment they are producing the Omega in batches. Since there is a waiting list new buyers simply have to take their place in the queue. First come First serve.... And why " should they start to work with the rest of the market?" What that got to do with running a bussiness? Modern market-economy is (also)based on beating the competition, not working together with it.... The alpha is sold with a fixed VRPC and RISC OS on it. It cannot and may not be used on any other computer. Thats also a part of the licence given by RISCOS Ltd. So talking about VRPC as a "stand-alone" product is besides reality at the moment. If one doenst like the specs of the alpha.. dont buy it or wait for a better deal. There is a Alpha available with a 2.4 gig P4 processor at the moment.. To call that low spec..... Regards, Rick
blahsnr 17/8/03 11:21AM	*In reply to jcmcculloch:* Yes you certainly did pay a big premium bying that laptop from MD. Laptops of similar spec (sometimes branded) can be had from around Eur 800-900 (gbp 600) including the obligitary Windows licence. *In reply to jcmcculloch:* Your comments about the performance whilst running on the battery are interesting. Especially as my A4 will do about 3 hours on a full charge, and has often been used on long train journies. How long will the Alpha run RISC OS at full chat on the battery and how long at A5000 speed. *In reply to rdenk1:* The main thing that Alpha proves is that there is extensive demand for Windows machines that can run a RISC OS 3.7+ emulator. *In reply to rdenk1:* <hypothetical> If your comments about the 'free market' are true and co-operation is not needed then it seems you would agree that it would be logical for Castle to have the RO4+ licence for MD revoked? After all that would guarantee that the Iyonix would have no competitors. </hypothetical> Regards Stan -- S Williams,
AMS 17/8/03 2:42PM	The quote of note from rdenk was "Modern market-economy is (also)based on beating the competition, not working together with it...." Now let's get down to it, Castle have made available C/C++ Development tools which everyone can use, has updated various software components in RISC OS which they've made available to all. They've (as far as I can tell) been open and evenhanded even with the competition. What has MD done ? Well, sold Windows and PC's to people, produced a machine that costs more than the faster Iyonix and which still has a some bugs to be removed (have a look at the Omega article in Eureka). Has sales of PC's and Windows to people damaged the RISC OS market - yes of course it has - people don't have fathomless pockets, there are limits to how much they can spend. Once they've bought an Alpha they're hardly likely to be in a position to buy either Iyonix or Omega after that ! Likewise they'll be unlikely to invest much in software (in the short term when it's needed) ... so the whole RISC OS market will be hit. The notion that supporting Alpha is somehow supporting RISC OS is blatant rubbish (the bulk* of the spend goes to a far eastern laptop manufacturer, to Microsoft and then a very small bit goes to MD, VA and RISC OS). In reply to blahsnr:* Yes Castle could revoke the license for RO4 from MD, or raise the royalty payments that ROL must pay (which would be passed onto MD). Trouble is it would make it appear to some that Castle was vindictive and get MD some symphathy. It could also be fashioned into a useful excuse for why Omegas are so expensive/late or unavailable. I'd say let's not provide that excuse. An alternative would be to prohibit sales of licenses for emulation use (but again that would probably irk some and would cost more than it saves). Yes the current situation is an unholy mess - and one we could have all done without methinks. Regards -- Annraoi McShane,
AMS (+1.0) 17/8/03 3:14PM	As if to prove my above point have a look at the article on Drobe EtherY (I quote "The EtherY driver was quietly sneaked out into the public under the GPL by Castle earlier in the year." So who's trying to advance RISC OS more MD or Castle ? -- Annraoi McShane,
mavhc (+0.9) 17/8/03 4:13PM	Because it was based on GPL code and therefore had to be released I assume. Trying to crush your competitors doesn't work that well if you can't sustain a market by yourself, we've already seen factions emerge only supporting Castle or Other stuff, usb, 32bit. Amusing that it's always Castle on one side though
Walks 17/8/03 4:47PM	"(the bulk* of the spend goes to a far eastern laptop manufacturer, to Microsoft and then a very small bit goes to MD, VA and RISC OS)."* Which is better than nothing at all, for those people who don't intend to buy an Iyonix, Omega etc, but still want to use and support RISC OS in some manner
rdenk1 17/8/03 5:17PM	@blahsnr : Yes, your hypothism can be correct. But here comes the catch: The only way for castle to do that is by "putting pressure" on RISCOS Ltd. They have to try to persuade ROL of not doing any bussiness with MD. But thats not in the best intrest of ROL, since its a good client of them. Futhermore it will put ROl in a position as an "department " of Castle. So they will loose their indepence. ROL has an contract with the owners of RISC OS that they can do bussiness with everyone they want as long as they are developing risc os/ exist as a company. Futhermore it would be very tricky to do so for castle since they have made an investment in obtaining RISC OS. And they want to earn their money back. "Return on investment" as its called. So IMHO, following your hypothism, Caste isnt going to do anything like that on the Risc front. Following their strategy I would go for the usp ( unique selling point) of the Iyonix. Meaning getting ROL asap in the 32 bits market and leading their attention away from the 26 market and thus cutting of a stream of lifeblood for the Omega. Thatswhy the talks about a 32 bits select version. But thats playing on the card that MD hasnt got a Xscale working.But it will undermine one of the strongest point of the omega, the soft upgrade to 32 bit. But its just following a hypotism of course. regards, Rick
rdenk1 17/8/03 5:47PM	@annraoi: Caste made c++ development tools available? I must have missed something. From what I have learned it will cost me 199,- . So hardly philantropic..... No one knows what deal is made with the "far eastern " company. Maybe the laptop are sold at cost price? You dont know it and neither will i. So we are all guessing at it. If you screw a Iyonix open you will see proberly fancy names like siemens or phillips on the chipsets. They dont care about the RISC OS market. They only care about their sales. And how about the companies who made the hard discs , floppy discs cd-rom etc...? They all dont care about the RISC OS market. So they all earned money too when someone buys an Iyonix..... Also money leaking out of the RISC OS market... And I never ever wrote:"supporting Alpha is somehow supporting RISC OS" I wrote " something is better then nothing".And Thats an opinion. regards, Rick
tank (+1.5) 17/8/03 6:38PM	Check out www.fortunetechnology.co.uk The Alpha is the 2700D model -- Tank
AMS (+1.5) 17/8/03 7:04PM	*In reply to rdenk1:* Of course the C++ were sold but the point is they built nothing in that would preclude that systems use on older RISC OS hardware (including Omega) or newer style 32bit systems - which was my point (they weren't trying to "stiff"* the competition). As to the precise cost of the laptop MD are selling - yes I don't know the price - but I am sure it will cost something* and I am also sure Microsoft will charge for Windows, both being the case that's money that's left the RISC OS market. As to the "fancy chips" argument, chips cost a lot less than whole systems (even fancy chips like the Xilinx ones or ALi southbridge in the Omega), so not as much money leaves our market. Such chips are bought in bulk for substantial discounts - generally laptops manufacturers don't offer the same degree of discount. So in building a machine Castle and Microdigital spend less money outside the market than they would if they simply bought in some other companies laptop and then sellold it on. The money that "leaks" out of the RISC OS market paying for machines like Iyonix and Omega at least gives us native hardware we can use without putting more money into microsoft - the same can't be said about Alpha. Kind Regards -- Annraoi McShane,
SimonC (+1.5) 17/8/03 8:18PM	*In reply to rdenk1:* "Something is better than nothing". It may be a sad fact, but I would be very surprised to see a StrongARM based laptop released at a roughly comparable price at all, so this is true. If people want a RISC OS laptop then unfortunately this is the way it's going to have to be. If there was a choice it would be a different argument altogether.
rdenk1 17/8/03 8:31PM	@annraoi : So we agree that c++ was/is sold as a normal product. Castle will never built in a code-piece to exclude "older systems" for three obvious reasons: a. they will loose sale with that b. If it comes out they have to do quite some explaining. c. Its unsportmanship-like, or better sooo microsoft to do so. About my "chips" arguement: the point is that it isnt a relavant discussion wether 10 cents is earned or 600 UKP. The conclusion is : Money is made with every sale by "outside-companies". The height of the buying -price of components ( or complete machines) is feed for book-keepers, managers and sales persons, not us. Our "power" lies in the fact wether we like a product or not or, even better, wether we buy a product or not. If sales are low then MD knows that this concept isnt a sucessfull one. If sales are high, well, then they have a winner. Again we do share the same idea of that is better to have "native risc/arm machines". But having the risc station portable debacle in mind, I see the alpha as a step forward. Thats the pragmatic part in me saying that. The principal part in me prefers the risc/arm laptop idea. But you cant allways get what you want As I am writing this its raining,for the first time in eight weeks.... Huurah ! (sorry, off topic) regards, Rick
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