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Email: mripley@ukonline.co.uk ICQ: AOL: Yahoo:	Username: mripley Realname: Malcolm Ripley About me: Homepage: web.ukonline.co.uk/mripley Face/Logo: Comments posted: 142 (show all)

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On Is there a way out of RISC OS version number hell?:

I have a come here, now and then, for old times sake and this article caught my eye. My immediate reaction to some of the comments was "are you mind numbingly mad". RiscOS has been dying since the OS fork. "Supporting" the continuation of the fork instead of merging it will bring about its death even quicker. The volume of sales for an application developer is pretty poor as it is. Now you want them to code two different copies?!?! Oh , unless you want them to code for a common module call API in which case nobody needs to develop anything since this was the case prior to the OS fork!!!!!!!!!!! Get a grip, you are on a suicide trip with a forked OS....... mripley on 7/5/09 11:31PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On VirtualRiscPC spotted on Linux:

Whatever you decide please don't give Microsoft money for a windows licence if you can avoid it! As was mentioned do they really care what you run as long as they get their money. So although I originally questioned the need to run Riscos under Wine under Linux since you might as well be Linux native for all you THINK you gain, if you really must run RiscOS under emulation then do indeed choose Linux+Wine. The x86 CPU is not the only one that can satisfy higher demands. It just happens to be the one with the most investment (due to volume) and thus is proceeding apace. The ARM CPU on the other hand only has to satisfy the demands of the mobile market and thus the demands for power there are much lower. However, the mobile and low energy demands are changing and you should expect to see a change there. Linux is playing catch-up? It sure is but it is succeeding whereas RiscOS failed. Mac was also playing catch-up and has already succeeded. The latest evidence from sales is that Mac's are increasingly the machine of choice at the expensive end of the PC market. Linux is at the cheap end but going upwards. In the middle you have Microsoft who are losing market share quite quickly. Hardware manufacturers can see this and are now providing drivers for all three platforms. Microsoft DEFINITELY IS losing at long last and you will see Apple and Linux side by side in PCWorld any day now. Ubuntu Linux that is.....but hey that's another story. Should Wine improve to the point where the vast majority of PC games run (very roughly 50% at present) then you will see more pure Linux take-up. Wine also runs on Macs. Microsoft is petrified look at its behaviour! Please note folks, take some time to trawl the Mac+Linux forums and get a feel for what is happening. AMS opinion is a little outdated. mripley on 27/3/08 8:31AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On VirtualRiscPC spotted on Linux:

Colin, At what point i.e. how many years, have to pass before you say "enough is enough this is going nowhere?". You could argue that I have not waited long enough but I would say that 6 years since the OS split plus 2 or 3 before that have seen no major advancement whatsoever. The Iyonix was a faster box with a RO5 distraction. It did not change anything fundamental about the OS nor its lack of multimedia support. It is those fundamentals that have needed to be addressed for nearly a decade. Now as far as my involvement is concerned I feel I have done my bit to help by writing various software over the years and providing constructive criticism. But when that criticism falls on deaf ears for years its time to move on. NB my Riscos software plus OS improvements are still available on my website. The game I wrote for the Beeb, published by Virgin Games, is not available and I will keep my last two copies safely in the sellophane wrapper. So Colin before you criticise my past involvment you should check what it was first! mripley on 22/3/08 12:03PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On VirtualRiscPC spotted on Linux:

A huge smile came across my face as I read the assumptions by some as to my mental state concerning RiscOS. All completely wrong of course but if it makes you happy carry on. I am merely stating that IN MY OPINION (am I not allowed to have one after purchasing a Beeb on the day it was released, pre ordered an Archimedes, and soldiered on with RiscOS longer than some people here have had birthdays!) it is better to adopt Linux directly than to run RiscOS inside Windows inside Linux. It seems to me that the only reason for doing this is to continue to use some applications that are not or are poorly implemented on the native system. Otherwise you are simply adding performance issues for no gain. I also suspect (I may be wrong but again I am entitled to believe in the absence of hard evidence to the contrary) that some people my be reticent to leave RiscOS, as I was, and are clinging to the past via an emulator. Be brave, you do feel a little sad (NOT BITTER!!!!) and it is worth the effort in the end. The effort being in learning how things are done differently. I am not spreading doom and gloom. If anyone thinks this, then subconciously they have not yet faced up to what I had 6 months ago, namely, RiscOS does not have a future. There is a subtle difference between doom and gloom and facing up to reality. I had persevered for several years with the shortcomings of RiscOS. In retrospect about 3 years longer than I should. Here's a classic : the issue of a split OS is now 6 years old......hells bells.....wake up folks. I gave RiscOS 1 more year to get it's act together, it has 2 months to go. In the last 10 months all the reasons why RiscOS is lagging so severely as a viable OS have not improved at all. The basic issues are still there. Reminder: I personally believe that RiscOS, with the issues fixed, would be more than a match for the 3 main OS's today. This is especially the case with the need for lower power consumption PC's. Such a huge opportunity for RiscOS to dominate and it is being wasted due to infighting, lack of vision and plain stubborn refusal to face reality. So I am not bitter as I have had a very good 27 year run with Beeb to RiscPC but I do feel sad that I need(ed) to switch. mripley on 21/3/08 8:46AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On VirtualRiscPC spotted on Linux:

Why? An emulator inside an interface interpreter(wine) to use an OS that is preferable to Windows because of all Windows shortcomings. And yet the top layer (Linux) has all you want without the shortcomings of Windows and it's all free with tons more software than RiscOS has ever had. If this is simply to show it works then fine as an academic excercise. But it is impractical and unnecessary for day to day use. So far there is nothing on RiscOS that I have needed to transfer to Linux (PCLOS). I did copy over a few sprites to emulate a RiscOS desktop on PCLOS just to see if I could. Otherwise nothing. Quite a sad surprise really, which is why it has remained switched off since November. mripley on 20/3/08 8:18AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On A call to ARMs:

It's a lot of money to spend for something which doesn't have any up to date software. Chicken and the egg here (rjek) unless you firnmly believe that increased sales of hardware will stimulate the production of up to date software. Personally I don't see that happening. If you do then it's not a fact nor a certainity, just a belief (or hope?). Also, in the outside world things are changing, much much cheaper laptops, and the adoption by some companies of Linux as the distributed OS. You even have the potential of hundreds of millions of EEPC's running Linux. Big bad M$ may at last be getting nervous. Time is rapidly running out for RiscOS and everybody in RiscOS world is still talking about the potential of updated software, the need to buy hardware etc etc. This conversation has been going on for several years during which time we've had an A9 and Firefox with no multimedia plug-ins. Not encouraging. Everything else has been a tweak or a fix to existing functionality but the fundamental shortcomings have still not been addressed. mripley on 30/1/08 8:37AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Ditching desktops for portables: The way forward?:

Irrespective of the OS and Hardware it all boils down to useability. This means applications to handle multimedia. Unfortunately RISCOS does not have these. I use my 17" laptop for music, movies, photo editing, full (multimedia) internet web browing all wirelessly. My server with a printer and tons of harddisc space (movies + photos) sits in the dark in a corner at the back of my house! My laptop runs PCLOS configured to look and behave like RISCOS! mripley on 7/1/08 4:10PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Maudlin over RISC OS:

I leapt from RISCOS to PCLInuxOS and was a little wary of doing so. However I have reconfigured my desktop to look like RISCOS (just for the familiarity) and as for the software, well, astonishing. It's all free. I thought I would have all sorts of configuration issues and the need to eneter command line stuff but I had NONE. You can get PCLOS from a magazine disk (or download off the internet), boot up a laptop and "try before you buy" i.e. try before you install to harddisk. I can honestly say that all the complaints I have had about RISCOS falling behind, lack of applications, multimedia etc etc have all been answered by the 100% free PCLOS. There's no need to spend a fortune on a Macbook either. A dual core 17" laptop for sub £500 will do fine. If you really must you can always set it up to dual boot the dreaded resource hungry Vista, which I have but I only use it for commercial games! FYI, for free: OpenOffice - nuff said Firefox - with all the plug-ins and extensions including the ability to play AVI's, Realplay etc. All sites with Micorosft nonsense work! Digikam - (recent wow) an album organiser and photo editor Gimp - extensive image editor Amarok - music Synaptic - what a dream of a software install and update application. MySQL - relational database Perl,Python etc etc - the choice is yours VLC, MPlayer etc etc - a multitude of video players Thunderbird - email Games - loads of them. The list goes on and on... mripley on 7/1/08 4:01PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS camps to discuss future development:

Druck you're wrong. I had cash to spend on upgrading my RiscPC and I wanted new hardware. However since there were two OS's on two hardware choices this meant the choice was OS+Hardware, the two are linked. So I was one of those "punters (that) have been unable to decide which version to stump up their hard earned cash for". As it turns out I purchased a laptop, installed Linux and re-configured it to look and feel like RISCOS. So both camps have lost out. A damn sight cheaper as well I might add for a machine far faster than the fastest RISCOS box and all the free software you could want..... I also noticed that RO5 and RO6 have "diverged internally beyond the point where they can be sensibly merged". In other words you will still have a choice of OS(+hardware) unless one camp decides to halt development. Any merging of functionality will help application writers but does absolutely nothing for those wondering which OS+Hardware is the one with a future. The market is too small to support both, one branch will fold. It's just a matter of time. It's good that they are talking but the end point MUST be one OS that runs on all present hardware. How you get there is up for discussion but dismissing the only logical end point before you start is madness. mripley on 29/11/07 12:12PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Could RISC OS teach Linux a trick or two?:

I think you'll find the "default" look of a linux desktop looks like windows. This does make sense since the vast majority of new Linux users will come from the Windows community. You can re-define the look and feel! I did. In fact PCLOS comes with a an option to use a RiscOS window decoration. Don't forget that the iconbar on the bottom was used by RiscOS before windows....so who is copying who? The one thing that Linux has to do is tidy up its filing and hidden files. The distribution of files is as bad as anything under windows. As for hidden files, well, some of these are in the same location as the users home folder which is soooo untidy and very dangerous. mripley on 6/11/07 9:18AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ARM reveals new 1GHz multi-core processor:

Laptops are the way to go! I have no intention of purchasing a "desktop" computer again. So inconvenient and they require you to be hidden away in a study room somewhere. A laptop on the other hand can sit on your lap in the front room and accompany you wherever you travel. Most people have a wireless router these days so your computing can travel with you. I now a new found enthusiasm with Linux on my lap . Oh forgot mention all my music and video sits in that study on served drives wirelessly accessed. mripley on 6/10/07 6:53PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS-on-Linux project prepares live CD:

Ok I took a look at GOBOLinux and it looks like the solution is already there. There are a number of flavours that people have built which brought together into one distribution would be what is needed, specifically: 1. A filesytem organised more tlike RiscOS (they actually based it on Macs) 2. Somebody has GOBOLinux with ROX (riscos filer) 3. Somebody has Gobolinux on an Xscale (!!!!) 4. Somebody has GOBOlinux with beryl Number 4 presumably means that compiz-fusion should be possible. All of this would enable you to have a very RiscOS functioning desktop and filer. In addition compiz-fusion would knock the socks of any presentation that Windows and Macs can muster. So it seems to me that the starting point could be GOBOlinux with ROX and then get RiscOS apps added to that distribution. mripley on 13/9/07 8:49AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS-on-Linux project prepares live CD:

I'm a great believer in not re-inventing the wheel....unless it's square! So take what already exists and works well and improve it. I get the distinct impression from the Linux world that Ubuntu is being hyped up and PCLOS is gaining ground due to its flexibility and greater hardware compatibility. A darn sight easier to configure as well I might add (I abandoned Ubuntu). So my suggestion is for a PCLOS distribution with RiscOS improvements, especially the location of those pesky hidden files. RiscOS sticks them all in !Boot, which is far far superior home for them (or should that be /home ) Mind you I noticed somebody mentioned GOBOlinux, I need to investigate. Also note you don't want some distribution that lives amongst the enthusiasts. You want to affect the mainstream. We know RiscOS has features that are far superior to the existing 3 so wouldn't it be good to have those features adopted by linux-world ? mripley on 13/9/07 8:26AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS-on-Linux project prepares live CD:

Simon, Demonstrate it with a distribution. It does not have to have all the bells and whistles applications since the aim is to demonstrate a tidier more functional approach. Shift-opening applications is a very deliberate action whereas the hidden files in /home/<user> are not really hidden are they? The are visible depending on which application you use, for example KFTPGrabber and Krusader. With these apps you are free to browse....and affect these hidden files....and thus have an accident even though the original intent had nothing to do with folder in question. This is why I am 100% convinced this is an accident waiting to happen (i.e. a very non computer literate user weened of Windows). Just because something is standard does not mean it can't be improved upon. mripley on 11/9/07 6:37PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS-on-Linux project prepares live CD:

Wouldn't the time be better spent getting Linux to adopt certain RiscOS methods such as the way applications are organised or the way "hidden" files are not needed. I have just recently installed PCLinuxOS on a laptop and have been very pleaseantly suprised (I gave up on Ubuntu due to issues with my hardware, Nvidia drivers!, and the need to start using the command line). I would recommend PCLOS to anyone looking around for a RiscOS alternate, it even has a window decoration called RiscOS as part of the distribution! Granted PCLOS is meant to look and feel like windows due to the need to attract those users. However you can easily change all that and right now my PCLOS desktop looks almost the same as my RiscOS one. The biggest issue I have found with PCLOS/Linux is all those damned hidden files in the users home directory. It's exceptionally messy and very dangerous if non enthusiast users start to adopt Linux. I think this is an area that RiscOS's approach to organising files, folders, applications and configurations can be of great use. As for applications themselves I don't think there is much to be gained. Some of the smaller apps maybe. A simpler cleaner FTP certainly! The default one is clunky and looks all the worse for having all those hidden files visible! PCLOS/Linux already has a wealth of apps with features that are sadly lacking under RiscOS (a reason for me switching). For example video works! here's a list of some of the apps that come as part of a PCLOS distribution: Gimp (Image editing) Thunderbird ( email and news) - Excellant "new/unknown" message handing Firefox (browser) - version 2 as opposed to RiscOS v1 OpenOffice - office suite that can also read/write M$ if you are peverse enough Calc - spreadsheet Writer - wordprocessor Base - database Draw - ! yes Impress - slides multimedia presentation Amarok - music player Beryl - 3D desktop manager Frostwire - peer to peer MPlayer - video/audio player FYI everything worked "out of the box". Network setup was perfect and automatic. Wireless connection to my Canon printer served from XP laptop, worked first time. All in all an astonishingly pleasant non windows and totally free experience. Remember folks all of the above is FREE. So my suggestion would be to build on top of what is already working and make it better. A RiscOS (PCLOS+ROX+?) style distribution. mripley on 11/9/07 8:59AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROX founder: Why I brought RISC OS to Unix:

Nick, I do intend to test things first hence why I have just purchased RO6 and will wait a year. However, in that time I will work at finding a RO alternative. I have to! I do a lot of multimedia stuff (who doesn't these days) and RiscOS is just not up to the task. It may be that I'll write my own solutions to any holes missing in the Linux/ROX setup. I had contemplated an Apple but they are expensive and you are then stuck with paying quite heavily for all software, especially the serious multimedia stuff. I was a hairs breadth away from purchasing one then RO6 was announced, hence last chance saloon! What I'll probably do is purchase a couple of mini macs for my kids and wean them off XP since any software needed to satisfy them would have to be purchased anyway for XP. Here's a thought: what would happen to ROX if the p***ed off developers in RiscOS world switched their efforts to improving ROX? mripley on 27/7/07 9:55AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROX founder: Why I brought RISC OS to Unix:

Just at the time I am about to dip my toes into the Linux world I read this article...great. That's done it for me. I was tempted to buy a new ARM based RO machine now that RO6 is out, but not anymore. I will upgrade to RO6 on my RiscPC and hope that things improve over the next 12 months but I won't hold my breathe. I love the RiscOS desktop, applications, drag n drop etc so its the interface that's important. I will have far more chance of seeing multimedia with Linux/ROX than native RiscOS. I purchased a laptop recently to act as a server for all my music, films (to other XP boxes), data, backup and central printer for the whole house. This works wonderfully even for RiscOS (except the films!). I then unplugged the laptop and took it on holiday. It became a very useful photo backup/CD burner, portable compressed Xvid player, information booth via the wireless connection. The only downside of all this was the need to use XP, which I hate. So here I am realising that the laptop as a piece of portable multimedia hardware would be perfect if wasn't for XP......hello Linux and an even bigger hello to ROX. With my large storage requirement farmed off to USB drives, USB printer and USB card reader I have no need of a traditional desktop PC. So my current laptop will be plugged back in as the silent,small,low power server. A new laptop will be purchased with Linux/ROX installed and access the NFS served central storage which will mimic my RiscPC setup almost exactly with the added benefit of being able to use far more multmedia content. Then I'm afraid it will be goodbye to native RiscOS. It just cannot do what a computer is used for these days. It is sad but I think 2007 will be the last time I have a native RiscOS machine switched on in my house...... mripley on 26/7/07 8:55AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On App development plans to be hatched at Wakefield:

We have to be careful to distinguish between the OS "core" and an OS "release". The former is what we would expect on the ROMS the latter is inclusive of the support CD. In Windows world the whole lot comes on CD or rather DVD these days. However, using a car analogy, despite the CD player in the car not being necessary to its functionality, you would expect one in a new car these days. Likewise with an OS release you would expect a core of applications that make your hardware useable "out of the box". A useable computer these days has to be able to jump onto any website, such as the BBC, and start watching a video clip or jump onto a website for a band and one of their tracks will play etc etc. So the problem with RiscOS is not the core OS but the support applications, which should be included with an OS release. The biggest obvious holes being the web browser plug-ins that all browsers need these days and the multimedia (video) support. I find it very frustrating that way way back when I first got my RiscPC I was able to watch replay movies....multiple replay movies whilst the PC world was struggling with icons and fonts! Yet today I can't watch a single video clip in a web page. mripley on 30/04/07 08:40AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Oregano 3 scrapped:

Just to add a little spice to the discussion. Amiga!!! are back and they are releasing AmigaOS4. The blurb (i.e. what makes it better than M$ OS) could have been written for RiscOS. However they have browsers that have javascript, multimedia apps that handle DIVX, MPEG4 etc. If some chinese firm, for example, was looking for a new OS to put in billions of mini computers then AmigaOS would look far far more attractive then RiscOS. mripley on 27/04/07 09:10AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Multimedia-friendly 1GHz XScale launched:

Any computer to be taken seriously must be able to do the basics. I've said it before : as much functionality as a phone (excluding the actual voice to voice bit!). The thing is the newest phones have even more functionality now and are starting to become fully functional multimedia/PDA devices. Would I spend more on a RiscOS machine than an Apple...yes. Would I spend more on a RiscOS machine that is less capable than my girlfriends phone....not a hope in hell. At the moment the applications are way way behind. With all the focus these days on energy efficiency and a growing awareness even amongst the computer illiterate public that microsoft has "issues", RiscOS could be solution. It has the potential but it need a multimedia ugrade. mripley on 23/4/07 8:34AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On New user guide for RISC OS 6 as release nears:

"ROL can't win" Unfortunately not for some. They seem to attract as much vitriol as M$ from some in RISC OS land. This is very positive development and should be treated as such. mripley on 29/3/07 8:12AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Vigay: I was told to remove my Firefox 2 tutorial:

Peter throwing out the dummy from the pram....surely not! I've said it elsewhere , he may have great technical skills but his people skills are practically zero. It's these childish attitudes that are slowly but surely killing what's left of RiscOS....... mripley on 20/3/07 8:00AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Thunderbird 'demo' port released:

Bill Gates died and went to heaven but God knowing that Bill was such an influential person decided to let him choose where to stay. The first place had angels playing harps and singing all day long, Bill wasn't too impressed. The second place had everybody reading scripture off by heart day after day, Bill wasn't too impressed. The third place had a beach, sunshine, lots of girls in bikinis and drinks all day long, this is the place for me said Bill to God. A week passes by and God gets an urgent message that Bill wants to see him. Bill turns up and complains to God that the place he chose is hellish full of devils burning and whipping him all day long, what happened to the girls, sun , beach he saw. God replies : "That was the demo". mripley on 10/02/07 00:23AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Thunderbird 'demo' port released:

Doesn't this set those alarm bells ringing again. Riscos development currently consists of retro fitting software. Whether it be RO5 to RiscPC, RO6 to Iyonix, Firefox, Thunderbird and a myriad of mini apps and utilities. BUT, huge big BUT, we don't actually have anything that is fully functional! Not even the OS can be said to be fully functional since you have two variants each of which are being retro fitted to the hardware of choice of the other variant.....DUH. We have browsers such as Firefox that are nearly but not quite. Even on a PC, Firefox "unzipped" as is is unuseable without the plugins for quite a few web sites. Could you offer RiscOS as a viable alternative to Windows and Mac OS X? Not a hope in hell. Fifteen years ago yes, and RiscOS has hardly moved on since........ Developers should work on plugging the holes in the functionality that preclude RiscOS from being considered a viable alternative. Get what we already have as fully functional as the equivelent Windows and Mac OS X versions. There are people who have better functionality on their mobile than we do on our desktop. How sad and embarrasing is that. mripley on 1/2/07 8:33AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On How to port RISC OS 5 to the RiscPC:

Josh and Martin are absolutely correct which is why this development has more to do with politics than anything else.....think about it! mripley on 31/1/07 8:40AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Could open source RISC OS bring back users?:

In reply to AMS: "Rubbish, and rubbish at a number of levels." You are entitled to your opinion which is all your reply is. You are entitled to interpret events incorrectly. You write like an agitated Iyonix owner. mripley on 15/12/06 12:57AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Could open source RISC OS bring back users?:

"Could be". This won't happen. It is clear from the comments in these forums that RISC OS is split into two camps. Those who think the future is Castle/RO5 and those who think the future is RO6. The vitriol expressed is, as I've said before, indicative of a dying platform. These two camps WILL NOT merge unless the language (and thus attitude) expressed NOW differs from that expressed over the last 4 years. It's time to wake up. There are too many suicidal self interested very vocal groups at work and I have all but given up. I will keep an eye on proceedings until the new year. But I do not hold much hope which is so sad. I have tried to avoid pointing my opinionated finger. But at this stage I will. Castle: who clearly attempted to corner the RISC OS market and failed miserably having failed to understand that it is entirely different from the PC market. mripley on 10/12/06 11:38PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Could open source RISC OS bring back users?:

I bought a BBCB way way back in the early 80's and have stuck with Acorn/Risc OS every since. However, on the 20th December my pay packet is huge thanks to my multinational company becoming private and thus all my stock being purchased for double what it was 6 months ago (never mind the hundreds of free shares every employee was given when we split off from Motorola!). East Kilbride shops won't know what's hit them this christmas. So in the new year what do I do: A. Purchase a new RISC OS machine? If so which one the Iyonix/RO5 variant or the A9/RO6 variant. Neither of which do the basics that even a mobile phone costing a tenth does these days! Two OS's....dumb. B. A PC......Ok no way, let's forget that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! C. An apple. A company whose OS is clearly moving on and whose applications work with todays internet content. RISC OS doesn't even do the basics and it costs a fortune for that lack of functionality. The idiotic bitching that goes on now is a sure sign of a dying platform. It's all a real shame since RISC OS has such huge potential and could knock the socks of M$ and Apple if the resources were allocated correctly with a clearly defined SINGLE development path. Any "open source" work on RO5 will inevitably duplicate some of what has already been done on RO6. Likewise any work on RO6 will inevitably duplicate some of what has already been done on RO5. Any new work on either will have to be duplicated on the other for apps to continue to function or be stuck back where the OS split. Dumb dumb and dumber. This split has existed for years with no sign of been fixed meanwhile the world moves on with phones, PDa's, PC's, TV's and Games consoles all being multimedia rich and RISC OS incapable of showing a simple 10 second internet video clip! mripley on 10/12/06 8:54PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Firefox 2 will be Iyonix-only:

In fact the more I think about it, it's time to leave RISC OS. It's going nowhere, too much infighting. No coordination. No strategy. There's a group of very vocal highly opiniated personalities that are fragmenting an already too small a market. I gave up reading comments on the previous article (ROL calls for Select coders) the stench of hypocrisy, when compared to article comments about Castle open sourcing, was appalling. Apple here I come. mripley on 17/11/06 09:06AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Firefox 2 will be Iyonix-only:

Quite Jeff Quite. This is yet another example of the suicidal behaviour of the very small RISC OS market. In order for RISC OS to survivie what few of use left there are MUST work together. This means : a fully functioning browser that works on all machines (not just the one selective branch). It means having one OS that works on all the latest hardware. Firefox for one branch of RISC OS is as mad and bad as having two branches of the OS in the first place! mripley on 17/11/06 08:51AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On How to upgrade an A9home's hard disc:

My RiscPC was getting full......until I used an old unwanted W2K machine as a central file server using a USB2 external hard drive. Now I play all my music on my RiscPC over the network from that drive. All my photos are also on the drive. This has the advantage that you don't need a large drive in your main machine and that all your music,photos, documents etc are centrally available to all machines in the house (RiscPC + 2 XP's). Oh and one printer as well. With a multi port switch I use once screen and one keyboard for my RiscPC and the "server" when I need to. Useful for flipping over to access a web site that can't be accessed properly under RISC OS. mripley on 30/10/06 4:41PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On HSBC embraces NetSurf and RISC OS:

They deserve a lot praise not just in RISCOS circles. When other banks see the positive praise (i.e. good publicity) for HSBC they may warm to RISCOS. mripley on 27/10/06 3:12PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On South East 2006 show report:

Quite right Nigel although I do see a glimmer of hope. Whether thet glimmer will brighten or not depends on where all the programming resources go in the next few months. Pessimistically the time will be taken getting all the disconnects between RO5 and RO6 fixed so we end up with two OS's that are closer but still damagingly different. Optimistically all effort will be spent on getting basic standard ordinary 21st applications on RISCOS running under one of the OS forks (and I don't mind which!). The optimistic approach requires work on RO5 to get it to work on an A9 or work on RO6 to get it to work on an Iyonix. Either way you have one OS working on all the latest hardware. mripley on 24/10/06 09:13AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On NetSurf users hit by HSBC account freeze:

Change banks and let them know why! mripley on 23/10/06 8:45AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 6 to power Select 4:

RO5 was a marketing gamble which failed - deal with it. Castle purchasing RISCOS AFTER ROLtd had obtained a licence from Pace years earlier was a ploy to corner the market, which failed - deal with it. NDA's allow each party to hide behind the truth - deal with it and don't blindy assume you are being told the truth! RO5 was released with new 32-bit hardware , the Iyonix, totally independant of ROLtd and RO4 because Castle thought they could corner the market. That it is a total no brainer which they will never admit to since that assessment failed. RO4 (and now RO6) follows the same functionality as all previous Acorn OS releases in that it works on recent legacy Hardware. RO5 ONLY works on Iyonix and thus breaks that tradition. DUH. I can't believe how painfully in denial the Iyonix community is. Wake up. This truth has absolutely nothing to do with Mr Middleton's character irrespective of whether he is Mr Normal or as some have intimated Mr. Off-the-wall. Clearly RO5 is the OS that has gone off at a tangent. However, a couple of years ago I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER Iyonix folks stating how ROLLtd would be dead within a couple of years and Iyonix/RO5 would dominate..........WRONG. It's wrong because the assessment of how the RISCOS market behaves is NOT like the PC market. Now stop btiching, accept that mistakes have been made and be positive because absolutely f.... all will happen unless positive attitudes prevail. Recent developments have been very positive so why knock them or do some folks here wish to see RISCOS die a death ? mripley on 19/10/06 11:15PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 6 to power Select 4:

I see the anti ROL brigade are fuming again. There was announcement about open sourcing RO5 and it was all positive here on drobe. ROL announce two positives in one day and there's bitching and sniping.....why? The OS fork developed by Castle ONLY works on iyonix. The OS fork developed by ROL works on all legacy machines and on the latest hardware which is exactly the situation that existed in the acorn world for years. So if any mud is to be slung do so in the direction of Castle. This is good news for Christ's sake. mripley on 18/10/06 7:28PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On New usergroup to launch at North-East roadshow:

bob (njnsky) - quite right about the football, especially when its champions league, world cup or local derby's. The safest days of the week are Monday, Thursday or Friday, Ok not 100% safe but the "safest" (the only footie on thu+fri is the UEFA stuff which is for the teams NOT in the champions league OR who failed early on..........hello Celtic!) Oh dear, that's me dead.....however I would say the same if it was Rangers but they don't even get into UEFA (dead from the blue and the green irrespective of the foot I kick with, thank god I'm Huddersfield Town supporter ) mripley on 17/10/06 7:13PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On New usergroup to launch at North-East roadshow:

EK is no problem for me. In fact it will take me 5 minutes to get to the Hilton from my house.....by walking! Getting to EK is not that bad. Anyway there is a new road from the M77 (forgotten about that Bob?) right up to the roundabout where the Hilton is situated. It takes about 10 minutes drive from Ibrox to EK these days. For folks coming from the East there is dual carriageway all the way from the M8 to the Hilton, albeit the roundabout at Strathclyde Country park is busy from 4:30-6pm. Bob if it takes you 1hr to get to EK you must be doing it by bike with a puncture. It took 30mins at worst from Woodlands before the new road was built. mripley on 14/10/06 5:44PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On How to create a modern desktop theme:

Just to add to the "pointless visuals" comment. If you don't like them switch them off. But if you want to sell RISC OS machines to the general public then presentation is everything. I've walked my kids and girlfriend around Pcworld and took them past the Mac's without saying a thing. Their eyeballs nearly popped out of their heads. Now that's the reaction that sells machines to folks who are essentially computer illiterate.....which is about 99% of the computer owners in the world ! mripley on 09/10/06 08:23AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 5 source code release revealed:

Browse and Fresco both have six letters in their name. That plus a bottle of Argentinian red wine causes one to write crap........ mripley on 30/09/06 11:09PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 5 source code release revealed:

Browse is an excellent application to get working again (my copy crashes and effectively kills my machine). This is surely the browser that is closest to what we require of a modern browser. Netsurf is excellent however it does lack Javascript which Browse has. Another advantage of developing Browse is that there is nothing "owned" by ROLltd to conflict with any development work. It would also plug one of the biggest holes in RISCOS's lack of appeal to the outside world. mripley on 30/9/06 5:45PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 5 source code release revealed:

What about the improvements already made but are part of RO4 Select/Adjust ? Unless the same modules and apps are open sourced from there as well then somebody will simply duplicate the work that has already been done. I'm all for open sourcing but I see some serious pitfalls due to the split OS fork. I am also a bit suspicious that this is an attempt by Castle to drop development itself for those modules and apps that it knows are inferior to the ones in Select. Has anyone checked this ? mripley on 30/9/06 12:17PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Scientologists eyed up RISC OS - new claim:

Legend has it that these scientologists had a Mission, Impossible to achieve some say. So they got their Top Gun's in to assess if A Few Good Men would be willing to invest in a Risky Business. The Firm they started to set up led by Jerry Maguire ( Born on the Fourth of July) was Far and Away too full of Young Guns who did not make All the Right Moves. They had some Collateral but were accused of Losin It in a stupid way to a japanese company led, rumour hasit , by The Last Samurai in southern Japan. This Cocktail of cock-ups Taps into the very reason why The Outsiders from the US were unwelcome on the Risc OS scene. mripley on 22/9/06 9:18AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On September news round up:

Hmmm, so there's an X-scale ATX motherboard out there. This would make sense in todays world that is lowering the power consumption of products. We already have X-scale PDA's with mobile windows on it. So this would suggest that a fully fledged "normal" windows could be achieved and maybe already out there under test. How sad would it be to see Windows Vista running on an X-scale machine but no RISC OS alternative. Even sadder: such a machine would be marketed as a new generation of low power PC's which steals some of RISC OS's limited thunder. mripley on 18/9/06 8:26AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Hallas to study history of Acorn PhD:

Regarding ARM patents and whether they were Acorn. This is all a matter of timing since ARM originally meant Acorn Risc Machines. One thing : it is not a "must" to influence the "big guys". If you wish to have influence then you must sell something or have your product embedded inside something that sells end everybody knows it e.g. Intel inside. Big guys can become very small guys if they back the wrong horse or fail to see something innovative. regards, Malcolm mripley on 14/09/06 3:38PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Dual core 1.2GHz Xscale touted by Intel:

(nt) mripley on 07/09/06 11:40PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Open sourcing RISC OS won't help says ROL:

His comment about facelifting Risc OS and the new "purely cosmetic features" is targetted at two entirely different groups of people (I very strongly suspect), not the same group as implied by his "can't win" comment. Those who complained about cosmetic features were those expecting more from a new OS release i.e. 32-bit, HAL etc. The other group (like myself) recognise that compared to other OS's Risc OS needs a serious uplift. The welcome cosmetic features merely updated the OS from a 1980's look to a 1990's look. We have a decade and half of catch up to go yet if we wish to attract new users. mripley on 4/9/06 9:26AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 4 caught on Mac OS X:

Spot on Josh, the RiscOS look is very dated compared to all other OS's even XP (the next worst looking). You can't look at RiscOS with loving anti M$ eyes but with the eyes of the public. They will think it is some kind of retro OS. RiscOS needs a facelift. mripley on 31/8/06 9:09AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Adjust users get Select site access:

What is very frustrating is the duplication of effort. Somebody developed 32-bit for Castle and somebody else developed 32-bit for ROLtd. Utter madness for a small platform such as ours. I blame both Castle and ROL for this mess since they are headed by two people who just can't sit down together for the good of platform, pathetic really. mripley on 22/8/06 3:42PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On BBC BASIC turns 25:

"Remove line numbers and use labels instead"...... Clearly written by somebody who does not write in BBC BASIC properly. There is no need for any line number OR labels even in its current form. Point of order here. Almost all languages have a "GOTO" somewhere its just that the advocates of those languages don't like to mention it (or more likely skipped the manual where its described !) mripley on 4/8/06 12:28AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROS must open up to survive says Wild:

To answer some of Gunnlaugur's concerns. Any project has to have the scope pre-defined otherwise it just grows arms and legs and goes off in all sorts of directions. Such a scope would define the boundaries within which any RISC OS development occurs e.g It will remain a co-operative multitasking system. Now I know agreeing on such a scope with an Opensource project could be difficult but there is a way forward: we ask the users. However, before we even contemplate changing the scope of the current RISC OS we should bring it into the 21st century. This means the OS stays as is but has all shortcomings addressed. So it remains a desktop, ARM based, co-operative multitasking OS. Fix what's broken, add what's missing but don't change what already works (even though this may conflict with some peoples belief systems about an OS, COS vs POS being the biggest!). Once that has happened then you can contemplate changing how the OS works. mripley on 03/08/06 08:26AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROS must open up to survive says Wild:

Just a reminder. Due to the way that RISC OS is organised it is entirely feasible to replace it with an opensource version whilst having an originbal (booted) version as a commercial product. This does mean that a specific module will have to be improved by re-writing from scratch. However, that might not be a bad thing for some modules. I have suggested before that somebody (not me since I have no idea where to start) should set-up and opensource RISC OS development area. This should include applications and modules. If it fails then we are in no better position than at present. If it succeeds then the commercial developers may be then be persuaded to add their products as opensource, including the intransigent Castle and ROLtd. I for one would love to have a single location for all my non commercial RISC OS needs. Or would could always talk and argue ourselves into extinction! mripley on 31/07/06 08:21AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROS must open up to survive says Wild:

Open source is perhaps the only way to repair the forked OS problem. I'm all for it. Maybe we should opensource some of the older applications as well, especially those whose original developer and/or distributor has left the RISC OS scene. Maybe somebody should take it upon themselves to set up the environment for an opensource RISC OS. I'd be quite happy to see any of my public domain stuff put in there. Surely there could be a considerable number of non castle non ROL modules that can be added as well. This gets the ball rolling. Due to the way RISC OS is organised there is nothing to stop people re-writing modules from scratch.......just leave a big gap between the current commercial version number and the opensource one let's start all opensource modules at version 100. As for the Netsurf criticisms. It is not helpful to deride the work done the way James did on the other hand we should be realistic in that only a browser as capable as for example Firefox (as it works on other platforms) is a realistic proposition to attract new users. RISC OS must be capable of performing all the basic functions that people expect of a computer and let's be honest here : phones and PDA's. If there is one phone or PDA out there that has more computer related functionality than a desktop then that desktop has a serious problem! One of RISC OS' selling points is the speed of boot up. Given that it has a very small footprint compared to other OS's it has the potential to be the first to take advantage of the emerging fast non-volatile memories e.g. nram, mram, pram. The cost prohibits their use at present but the real cost is the total amount of memory needed NOT the unit chip price. A RISC OS machine that switches on in a second in exactly the same state you switched it off in........that is huge selling point. With some clever shuffling of the way RISC OS handles memory couldn't the "boot up" state be in the MRAM and the much cheaper DRAM used for dynamic areas....for example. Pedantics please note I know the details of teh OS at present preclude this but you get the point I'm making. mripley on 20/7/06 8:53AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Interview with a ROS Open shareholder:

John Hoare has hit the point for me. After years and years my enthusiasm for RISC OS is waning severely due to the appalling attitude of both Castle and ROL. Please don't defend either of them, they are both to blame for a situation that will destroy RISC OS. I suspect that both companies have enough (or more likely larger) non desktop business that they believe things can carry on as they are. This would be incredibly short sighted by both of them. A "turbo charged" (to quote datawave) RISC OS with the relevant upgraded applications could provide a viable alternative to the world of XP. That in itself would boost the embedded demand for both Castle and ROL products way beyond anything they currently have. mripley on 19/7/06 8:26AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Ex-Pace staff back RISC OS Open Ltd:

RISC OS will die if the following ever louder shouting falls on the same deaf ears : 1. OS Fork is an issue. rejoin it. 2. All the basic tasks you can do with ANY PC and ANY Apple, no point repeating them! I find it increasingly embarrasing and annoying that PDA's, Phones (for gods sake), games consoles etc can perform the tasks that people expect of all computers and yet RISC OS can't. Not at all, zippo, zilch and no realistic prospect of ever doing so. If we advertise RISC OS in its current application weak state we risk being looked upon as joke. As time goes by features that were once luxury become standard. Look at cars : airbags, ABS brakes, power steering, CD player etc etc 10 years ago these were in BMW's and Mercs now they are in almost all new cars. Computers are the same and RISC OS does not cater for the basics. You move with flow now, not later, or die. mripley on 14/07/06 3:13PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Could public cash save our software?:

The problem is RISC OS users live with (and defend) the situation perfectly highlighted by gdshaw. Two applications that are both nearly but not quite for different reasons which if you use them both are OK...... Absolutely NOBODY out there in "pcworld" land would touch RISC OS if that's how they had to use a computer. We do not need "suites" of software. The RISC OS environment is perfectly suited for applications to work with another. What we need is software that is kept up to date with the latest functionality. If that's something gimmicky then so be it but that's what sells. Think about text messaging on a phone for god's sake !!!!!! I think a support scheme is a good idea if it is active. Response to users questions is a given. What you need is regular releases of upgrades, fixes etc. As folks have already stated the select scheme was/is very poor in this respect. You cannot extract money under the guise of "support of development" and not give something back in return. I would expect something significant every 6 months minimum. I would certainly expect a newsletter outlining progress every month. It is far better to say "No progress has been made in the last month due to xyz" than to stay silent. mripley on 9/7/06 10:21AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On NetSurf conquers Wikipedia:

dave r : I know only too well that code is often written in a standalone mode. However given Netsurf's opensource links there is always the hope that it has been designed in a modular fashion. Likewise the javascript in the existing browsers may have been writtten in a similar manner. One could always hope........ mripley on 5/7/06 4:32PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On NetSurf conquers Wikipedia:

What happened to the ownership of the Javascript interpreter in Browse? There's also an interpreter embedded in Rcomp's Webster and the non Javascript part of Webster just doesn't compare to Netsurf. So I would say there are, with some approporiate foresight, open discussions and desire to see RiscOS go forward, a possibility for Javascript in Netsurf. mripley on 5/7/06 8:28AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS to visit Glasgow, Newcastle:

I'm not assuming things are as bad as I make out. I know they are. I live here! Granted there are very many people who have family and friends on both sides but, if you're a stranger asking for directions then god knows which idiot you ask! However, a neutral ground is no problem whatsoever. The problem with most of the football grounds is that they all tend to be next to a dodgy area(!) and a pain to get to in anything but a car. The suggestion of Glasgow uni is far better and very easy to get to.....and nice pubs mripley on 25/6/06 11:12AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Euro 2006 show report:

Running RISC OS on PDA's may be a way to attract more people to RISC OS BUT only if it runs natively. The slow speed of emulation will put new people off mripley on 23/6/06 8:28AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS to visit Glasgow, Newcastle:

Hmmm, Rangers ground. Well you can be absolutely guaranteed that any RiscOS curious Celtic fans won't attend. Seemingly normal people behave in the most odd manner when it comes to Rangers and Celtic. The reasons are NOT football which is why the Newcastle ground isn't a problem for tynesiders. mripley on 23/6/06 8:24AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Intel looks for XScale business buyer:

What Intel will have is two low power products. One is their own design and the other is licensed from ARM for which they have to pay royalties. It makes economic sense to support your own license free product and sell off the other. mripley on 20/6/06 8:23AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS found on Pocket PC PDA:

With ARM chips in PDA's why emulate at all? It would be so nice to have a RiscOS driven PDA and a RiscOS driven desktop....that talk to each other. Of course a spin off of such an excercise would be the necessity of having multimedia applications that we don't currently have (sorry I had to get my dig in about a huge hole in the RiscOS environment ). I copy files between PDA and RiscOS using my PDA in USB drive mode. Unfortunately I have to use a PC as an intermediate (spit). The SD card in my PDA also plugs into my digital SLR....wonderful. So I suppose I need an SD card reader to bypass the PC. The problem is my reticence to keep investing in RiscOS hardware at the moment for a subject of computer use (RiscOS multimedia) that just has not progressed for several years! The duo core iMac is looking more attractive as the days go by. mripley on 1/6/06 8:42AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Wakefield 2006 show report:

Marketing RiscOS in its present state would do more harm than good. Imagine it was "featured" somewhere and an in depth review took place. Step 1 internet access....hmmmm. It would fail miserably. Simple stuff that everybody does, for example something I did last night was to look for a hotel in Glasgow. Try it ! Almost every site became a garbled mess whatever RiscOS browser you use. Step 2 multimedia. You can play CD's and.....and.....and....failed. Step 3 burn a CD. Possible but intuative, no way. etc etc. Remember all of the above has become "standard" in computers in the last 10 years and RiscOS world has done nothing about it. If you are going to market RiscOS you had better make sure you market it as an enthusiasts machine. If you market it the same way as pc's and apple's are marketed you will kill off any chance of anybody wanting to switch. Basic 2006 computer features need fixing first. Oh and I find it very telling that folks would even consider 800x600 resolution some kind of base/standard these days. Even 1280 x 1024 is becoming "low res" on the ever cheaper larger LCD screens. mripley on 19/05/06 08:58AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Wakefield 2006 show report:

Why would I watch DVD's on a computer ? I wouldn't, I watch DVD's on my DVD player with 700 Watts of surround sound. However that is a bit impractical in my son's bedroom. A computer on the other hand that serves as an educational instrument, a CD player and a DVD player is a different and desirable situation. My RiscPC has served me well and its very reliable. My son's PC is a pain in the butt when it goes wrong. But I've reached that point where I have to compare basic 21st computer functionality vs reliability. I suspect (I will find out) that an Apple is far more reliable than a windows PC and thus a good replacement for my trusty reliable RiscPC. Functionally there is no comparison. Ten years ago there was a comparison. Mind you 10 years ago and the awful windows 95 had just replaced the absolutely abysmal windows 3.1 and the Apple Mac was clunky at best. mripley on 17/05/06 4:54PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Wakefield 2006 show report:

Simon, it does not matter if its part of the OS per se, or a support model or an application etc etc. The RiscOS environment is sadly lacking on many fronts these days. As for your concentration on mobiles this misses the point entirely (or was that a purposeful distraction on your part?) Bob understands and he is correct that windows connectivity is poor. Its so frustrating. Windows is utter sh+i+te but because there is(was? - OS/x?) no viable alternative it lives on. A viable alternative means an environment where really computer illiterate people can be productive without having to read books, logon to websites etc to get things to work. Ok we can argue about "productivity" on a windows box BUT PC users can browse the internet successfully, watch DVD's successfully, rip CD's for their friends successfully, manage their photos succssfully, video chat (via MSN,yahoo etc) successfully "out of the box" as they say. We can only do a quarter of that and that takes some knowledge to set up! As for an apple. The apps themselves are quite simple. Which is a good thing since there is no need for the bloated windows stuff. However, apple have got their act together and they present fully functional working integrated applications in a very very slick manner. It's not rocket science and RiscOS world could do it with consumate ease....but it doesn't. In fact it has made no attempt to do so in 10 years. Instead the community has sat back stating how much better than windows it is (which on many fronts it is) but as far as the man in the street is concerned it is positively archaic. The "man in the street"'s money is what RiscOS desperately needs to attract. As for myself I want to do what I've listed above without ANY PAIN....is that too much to ask? mripley on 16/05/06 8:26PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Wakefield 2006 show report:

I'll add my sixpenneth to Ryan's comments. I don't think you're ranting Ryan but expressing what I also see as a general malaise with our favourite OS as well. RiscOS has essentially been stuck in a rut for nearly 10 years, slight tweaks here and there but no real progress. Multimedia (an essential these days) is practically non existant on RiscOS. The GUI is very tired. Internet usage is hit and miss and desperately needs fully functional multimedia. Forget Cineroma, it's been on the way for several years now so its not going to see the light of day. All those devices that talk to Apple/PC's such as cameras, PDA's, phones etc. The interconnectivity is increasing but not with RiscOS. The current Apple GUI is wonderful, very slick and in the very near future folks will have Apples with Windows as an alternate OS. They will find themselves using the Apple side more and more and using the Windows side very occasionally.The PC magazines seem to think they've "captured" Apple I is supect they will get a nasty shock. Am I thinking of switching to Apple? It pains me to say so but yes and I've had a BBC B from the day it came out, an Archimedes the day it came out, a RiscPC the day it came out, a StrongArm card the day it came out. I've waited patiently for the OS Split to rejoin, for the OS to be revamped, for internet access to be Usable and Readable. Jesus, my ARM based PDA is functionally better than any RiscOS machine these days ! Hang on let me check something....23MB internal memory used out of 167Mb available. Inside that 23Mb there's msoft compatible office apps, a movie player, a music player, games, wireless internet, calendar, image viewer etc etc. I can take the SD card from my camera plug it into my PDA and view-enlarge the pictures whilst listening to music....wonderful. That's an ARM based device smaller than a bar of chocolate much smaller than a blue brick! mripley on 16/5/06 1:41PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Wakefield 2006 live news:

I was tempted to reply to jwoody's ill informed rantings before now but managed to hold back. However, WHEN YOU RESORT TO THIS !!!!!!!!!!!! If you're correct in what you say, shouting about it won't make it any more valid. The problem is you're wrong. No let me re-phrase that. You're lack of imagination and programming expertise prevents you from understanding what is/is not possible under either CMT or PMT. A multi processor CMT OS is perfectly possible and our favourite OS would require a re-write. mripley on 15/05/06 1:50PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROL open share investment to all:

If this is the start of the re-merging of the OS then I'm all for it since that's what killed development in applications and OS features. To AMS, good luck with Microsoft you'll need it since it's a pile of kack. Unfortunately a necessary pile of kack these days in the big ignorant wide world but not necessary in the home or amongst the wise. I had a play with an imac the other day (in PCWorld ... shame on me). How anyone could see that for 10 seconds and then turn around and think anything but bad thoughts about a PC amazes me. Absolutely no comparison. What it did highlight to me was the now desperate need for a RiscOS facelift and multimedia capabilities (already mooted several times). Boy do those icon sizes need changing, we have ever bigger desktops but the 34x34 icons just keep getting relatively smaller. Presentation IS important since new customers are important. The multimedia and internet applications do not have to be microsoft compatible these days. However all of this is simply fantasy whilst the limited RiscOs resources are left to support 2 OS versions....suicidal madness. mripley on 6/2/06 8:42AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle rattles licensing sabre at 32bit RISC OS 4:

Call me suspicious but just when it looks like the A9 may be 32-bit competition for Castle they start mumbling about licences...again (which if it became a legal battle would delay any release and hence possibly benefit Castle but definitely harm ROLtd and AD6). Why didn't Castle AND ROLtd come up with a clearly defined agreement after the last fiasco? They are both at fault for that. This kind of carry on seriously hampers RISC OS development. If we had one OS fork we would have had fully compatible 32-bit machines years ago. Work could then have progressed with upgrading the OS to work with the latest ARM processors instead of designs several years old. We would also have much better applications. We have a very small market that cannot afford to be fractured. It is insane and suicidal for all involved including Castle ....WAKE UP! (P.S. We as "users" should not defend anybody in this and instead complain bitterly about the whole situation i.e. Castle and ROLtd are collectively at fault until we have one OS path and no more bitching about who's ball were playing with). mripley on 19/1/06 8:31AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Web gallery apps compared:

I'm still busy totally revamping my house so my attention to RiscOS world has been very occasional. However: Flypig : The reason why the enter key does not tab between fields is that I have not done it. I will add it to the list but will implement it using the recommended style. Helpful : You can drag a folder of images to Thumbcat ("real time" mode) and generate an HTML catalogue from that. A general point to note here. When a file or folder is dragged to Thumbcat a temporary catalogue is built in scrap. The procedures treate this catalogue like any other and so you can (or rather should, if not tell me !) do anything you would with a saved catalogue. This also includes exporting the EXIF data as a text file. Yes I have thought about importing the same type of data and building an EXIF file from any image format......but don't hold your breathe. mripley on 12/1/06 8:19AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle move to Cambridge rumoured:

I will buy either: * An A9 once completed. or * An Iyonix if it had RO select. I have the cash now but whilst there are two forks in the OS tree I'll live with the hardware and OS I have (thats the latest version 4 variety that has different features to the latest version 5 variety........mad.......) I doubt I am alone. mripley on 5/12/05 9:11AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Software news:

What would the "significant" development of Grapevine entail ? I think it would need to handle video and audio as all others do these days. mripley on 24/11/05 4:41PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Could A9 be a digital oasis in a desert of PCs and Macs?:

A couple of folks have already hinted at the distorted pricing. In order to have a fully working useable computer based on an A9 the actual cost is consderably hugher than £499. The Iyonix price includes keyboards, screens, CD drives etc. I'll say it again my ARM powered PDA is almost the same as an A9 as far as desktop use is concerned, but costs £170. I have a wireless foldable keyboard (£50) which allows me to use my PDA in "desktop mode". mripley on 23/11/05 9:03AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Archive usage survey: VRPC edges past Iyonix:

In 3 years RISC OS will be dead unless the OS fork is rejoined. The split causes people like myself to hold back investing any new hardware unless I know for certain which OS variant is the future. The split also hampers application devlopment or rather developing applications which take full advantage of new OS features. All developmnent has to anchor itself at the point where the split occured in order to be compatible with both variants. This is utter madness. mripley on 11/11/05 8:23AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Taking OS features for granted:

Peter you really need to take something for that attitude of yours. I have read many many discussions both here and and on CSA and Dave has defended you to the hilt (or have you forgotten?). Personally I think you are technically talented but your people skills are abysmal. mripley on 03/11/05 10:57PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Taking OS features for granted:

The PMT system I'm using at the moment freezes every now and then (15 seconds dead as a dodo as the VM system moves things around) as well as grinding to a near halt when certain applications run (especially over the network). In other words no different from CMT. I am suspicious that the PMT advocates are so for theoretical rather than practical reasons. A lean CMT system with good memory protection and well written applications will perform just as well as, and probably better than, a bloated PC PMT system. As Dave has already pointed out rewriting RiscOS is non starter so the argument is pointless and done to death several times before. Instead we should work towards improving what we have e.g. better memory protection, multimedia handling, a single OS fork etc mripley on 03/11/05 08:55AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Voice-over-IP on RISC OS: What's involved?:

Somebody mentioned Grapevine I would think that an application like that is one that needs to be expanded to include Voip as well as the usual MSN,Yahoo,Google etc video chats. However that opens up the can of worms that is video on RiscOS or rather the lack of it. mripley on 31/10/05 8:30AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Users to represent RISC OS at Euro mega-show:

I haven't even attempted to connect my T5 to by RiscPC (no USB port is a problem ). Although I had thought about it. In fact I was thinking it would be rather nice to have the full sync capability but that would be one hell of a project. Another thought that crossed my mind was RiscOS on a Tungsten....can but dream. To me it seemed such an obvious bit of hardware to Riscosify. mripley on 31/10/05 8:21AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Users to represent RISC OS at Euro mega-show:

I would be a little wary of being enthusiastic about the footprint of an A9. I have a Tungsten T5 PDA which has an x-scale ARM chip inside it. It plays music, videos and games. Displays/edits word,excel and powerpoint. It has built in bluetooth and with a very small card, wi-fi access as well. I can browse the net whilst listening to music. It has 256Mb in-built flash rom (used as ram) and plug-in SD cards up to 2G. So the question would be. If I can get all that in an ARM powered ROM OS driven machine for £170 why can't an A9 be the same or at least very similar. mripley on 30/10/05 1:12PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROL plots December roadshow:

As per usual the 250 miles of Britain above Hadrians wall is ignored......... (I'm not a whinging Scot but a Yorkshireman) mripley on 26/10/05 8:31AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On How productive are you on RISC OS?:

My experience is that the windows Xp machines I use (work and kids @home) are slow to boot and navigation is awkward. Even though I know where everything is getting there is laborious at times. RISC OS is very good at integrating different file types between applications whereas windows is royal pain in the butt. I spend far more time messing about with file formats than actual image manipulation. With my kids PC email is switched off, firefox is the browser and zonealarm is the firewall this combination (so far) has proved to be very protective against the PC nasties out there. Where windows beats a RISC OS machine is in the speed it does cpu intensive tasks such as image manipulation, WMV to MP3 conversions, as for video well this is a complete non starter on RISC OS. The only non CPU intensive task that windows excels at is web browser although this is to some extent a self fulfilling prophecy ! However bitching about WWW standards doesn't magically improve the situation does it ? RISC OS improvements (in my opinion) : most applications could do with some modernising to make them more attractive and 21st century. We desperatley need improved web browsing with all the necessary plug ins and to stop bitching about what should and should not have happened. It has happened we have to live with it as do other OS's. An integrated multimedia handler for easy music and video ripping, saving, converting, playing etc. If compatibility for older OS's hinders development of any new or upgraded apps then I think we have to drop that support. Anchoring functionality in the 80's does us no good at all. mripley on 11/10/05 8:38AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On The Intel XScale conundrum:

I think you might find that work on improving the speed of ARM cores will accelerate in the very near future. The functionality and convenience of PDA's is starting to to be attractive to laptop users. This will stimulate the demand for ever faster ARM chips (amongst others). In the PDA world ARM dominates even amongst CE powered devices. mripley on 26/8/05 3:18PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On ROL tells Select users: A9 takes priority:

So what's a "fair price" for a Select upgrade for Iyonix users ? The price a user is willing to pay or the price that covers costs for the manufacturer ? Surely the whole point of the 100 commitments is to at least determine what a fair price could be and I'm assuming 100 people didn't come forward. If it costs 10,000 to work on Select for Iyonix that's 100 quid each which I'm sure a lot of people would say is too high. But are you asking me to believe that 10,000 is an extortionate amount of money to be spent developing code? That 10,000 would have to cover wages and production costs or is the expectation of Iyonix users that working on Select for their machine will only take a week or so ! I think its fair to say it will be man-months of work in which case that 10,000 is clealry not enough which in turn pushes up the unit cost of an upgrade to the end user. A realistic assement of costs and the need to pay wages is missing here ! I have read many many times that Iyonix owners are happy with RO5 and see no need to upgrade to Select/Adjust for "nothing more than rounded buttons". With statements of intent like that based on misunderstandings of the content it should come as no suprise that ROLtd are abandoning Select for Iyonix. It seems to me that the 100 commitments was a last check by ROL and Iyonix owners failed. mripley on 3/8/05 8:31AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On News in brief:

Given what most women have in their handbags you could hide a RiscPC with printer in there no problem mripley on 29/6/05 8:12AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Delving inside an A9home:

Replaceable , upgradable , semantics for pedantics. If I "upgrade" the memory in my computer I replace the old memory. If I "upgrade" the hard drive I replace the old one etc etc. mripley on 28/06/05 4:02PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Firefox first beta published:

I would argue that "if" a RISC OS application can provide a standard feed, such as Organizer and vCalendar files, then they should do so out of the box and not rely and the user to add a script/extension/bolt-on. If we want to attract people away from other OS's then the ability to transfer data between PDA's, cameras etc is essential. There are a considerable number of good applications, quite a few free, that only need that little bit extra functionality to make them a viable alternative to the dark side. Some of the changes required are only cosmetic since people like their flashing widgets (which the purists can switch off). mripley on 23/06/05 09:04AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Firefox first beta published:

I concur with Jess. I have found firefox to be quite fast at rendering a page but painfully slow when responding to mouse and keyboard clicks. This contrast in speed makes me suspicious that it's not firefox but perhaps something much more fundamental with an I/O library procedure. mripley on 22/06/05 10:53AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Firefox first beta published:

lproven , the only way developers will be unattracted to the RiscOS platform because of the unix porting project is if every single application is provided by that project. I think we can safely say that's not going to happen. The project will result in some applications that will attract non RiscOS users, in particular PC users. This is especially so with Firefox which now allows RiscOS users to view all sites (so far) the same as everybody else. An issue I always believed was one of RiscOS's biggest problems. The next one is DVD playing. Third would be music playing although DigitalCD is almost there it just needs the playlist editing re-vamped a bit. We can read Word files so that's OK. I doubt the direct reading of Excel files would be needed to attract Mr+Mrs Average PC user. It's the multimedia and internet stuff. Video plug-ins for Firefox is probably another biggy that's needed. Hopefully Firefox can be persuaded to be a bit nippier on a StrongArm RiscPC. I suspect there are some basic speed gains somewhere given that typing into the entry bar is quite slow. It would be quite impressive to have a moderm multimedia+internet functionality on a 10 year old (very cheap!) RiscPC. Keep up the good work Peter. mripley on 21/6/05 9:06AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Portrait monitor support for A9home:

If the use of SM501 is speculation then I think Drobe should stop referencing it in their articles or at least remind the reader that it is still speculation. Anyone reading the above article in isolation would think that the use of the SM501 is fact. mripley on 14/6/05 3:12PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Portrait monitor support for A9home:

One thing stull puzzles me. According to the SM501 datasheet the maximum screen resolution supported is 1280 x 1024 and yet the A9home can display 1600 x1200. How? mripley on 14/6/05 1:27PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On A9home surfaces at user group:

My reason for thinking that the A9 was limited to 1280x1024 was this statement on the Silicon Motion website on their SM501 datasheet : "Best 2D and video acceleration with low-power consumption, supporting high resolutions up to 1280 x 1024" Plus : Display Support • LCD (digital) and CRT (analog) with Dual Display • LCD: 320x240 to 1024x768, 16/32-bit; 1280x1024 (16-bit only) • CRT: VGA to SXGA, 16/32-bit • Widescreen support up to 1280x768x16 Nothing greater than 1280X1024. So where is the error? Is it the datasheet or the statement that an SM501 has been used. mripley on 08/06/05 10:57AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On "Vast majority" of ROS 4 now 32bit:

Well I now have RO4.39 and think its much improved over 4.02 which itself was much improved over 3.7 (i.e. RO5). The thought of going back makes me shudder. However some people don't like change even when its better. mripley on 22/04/05 09:16AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Greeks bearing gifts and email:

No news is good news. mripley on 01/02/05 1:32PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Greeks bearing gifts and email:

Whoa did somebody mention Mpro subfolders.........you can take that as a big hint Andrew mripley on 01/02/05 08:47AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle spills beans on ROL dispute:

In reply to Dgs, my response to you would offend certain readers, mripley on 23/06/04 08:19AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle spills beans on ROL dispute:

If there were large numbers of RO5 sold outside "our" market then why on earth would Castle bother with ROL Ltd. Let it whither away and die. Surely it costs far more in lawyers fees to pursue ROL Ltd than any financial benefit they get from killing off ROL Ltd. Castle will get the Iyonix hardware sales irrespective of a live or dead ROL Ltd as the 26bit side slowly dies. None of this makes sense which is why I suspect the true motives for the recent activites have not been published (but I can extrapolate) and their published assessment of the state of 26bit/Select etc is not entirely accurate. Please note I am neither pro nor anti, Castle or ROL Ltd, unlike the clear bias some people have here! I just want to see some stability for us users for the correct reasons. regards, malcolm mripley on 22/06/04 3:26PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle spills beans on ROL dispute:

Quote: Castle also said that they wanted to settle the dispute as quickly as possible and have the RISCOS Ltd. sub-licencees (companies that use RISC OS 4, like STD and VirtualAcorn) licensing RISC OS 3.7, an 'early' version of 4, and RISC OS 5 from Castle, so halted products can begin shipping again. Quote : The cynical amongst you will read between the lines and guess that Castle really want people to migrate from RISC OS 4 to RISC OS 5, quite possibly via any means necessary. Castle's spin on the situation is that the market for RISC OS 4 upgrades is barely a thousand users, which for them, just isn't enough - particularly when they're talking of moving RISC OS to newer ARM architectures. So why bother ? Let ROL die, release RO5 for all legacy and emulation users and this whole license situation is academic. Clearly there's more to this than a few royalty payments. It seems to me, not cynically but realistically given Castle's own statements, that they want ROL out of the way so that they can own the whole RISC OS market (NB RISC OS not RISCOS). However ROL are doing better now than they have for quite a while and if that Omega with an Xscale appears it would make a huge difference. You can argue all you like about, Omega's, Xscales, who should own what , who is the best to develop RISC OS etc etc, but the tactics, in my opinion, are to get rid of a competitor using a legal stick because they can't succeed with the product itself i.e. RO5 vs Select. I've said this elsewhere: I suspect if you were to compare ongoing sales of RO5 vs Select then RO5 would be downwards and Select slightly upwards. regards, Malcolm mripley on 22/06/04 08:46AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On VA halts VirtualRiscPC deliveries:

Still more opinions and speculation written as fact. "Fact is ......." etc etc that's for lawyers to sort out (unless you have the original signed legal documentation and its totally unambiguous!). How does anyone know for certain that ROL is at fault for not being at the negotiation table. Is that because CTL said so or because people here know so or because people here want to believe its so due to their ROL/CTL bias. regards, Malcolm mripley on 17/06/04 08:52AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle terminates RISCOS Ltd. licence:

It was the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and not the TV series where King Arthur chopped off the arms and legs of the knight at the bridge. It's small details of fact like that that you need lawyers to sort out regards, Malcolm mripley on 17/06/04 08:31AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle terminates RISCOS Ltd. licence:

Here's some 5 year old information: ------ Firstly on 5th March 1999 an agreement was signed with Element 14 to licence and develop the RISC OS 4 operating system whilst element 14 Ltd revised its business from manufacturer to silicon designer. The essential element of the RISC OS licence agreement with Pace is that RISCOS Ltd is the only company with full access to all RISC OS Sources. RISCOS Ltd can provide programming support to licencees to aid the conversion work needed to port RISC OS to new hardware platforms. It will also be possible for sub-contractors to work for RISCOS Ltd and the AMS on source code level development. CTL then became the first company to take out an authorised manufacturing sub licence agreement with RISCOS Ltd on 9th November 1999. This enables them to ship their current Risc PC and A7000+ machines with RISC OS 4 pre-installed. ------ That second one could prove interesting depending on the timing of RO5 development and the purchase of RISCOS from Pace. The 4th one is a cracker as well. This whole situation is a legal minefield and statements from CTL or ROL before any legal settlements should be ignored. From what I have read from 5 years ago it would seem that ROL have a far stronger case than the statement by CTL implies. I think everyone should just sit back and wait for the lawyers to sort it out. Look on the bright side: after this, the current OS mess will be sorted out one way or another. regards, Malcolm mripley on 16/06/04 4:27PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On VA halts VirtualRiscPC deliveries:

I find the timing of all this suspicious. If there's a problem with the VA licensing why has it been allowed to continue for so long ? No, IMO, the licensing angle is a smokescreen for the real problem, sales. Does anyone have a sales chart for Iyonix ? I would guess its downwards and bottoming out since users have already bought them. The remaining potential buyers have RiscPC's, select,adjust, VA etc. Oh and look whats been hit !!!! Oh and look it would seem an Omega is coming out with Xscale. This licensing may not affect select/adjust sales but it will affect the income of ROL due to the loss of VA sales and thus hamper development of select/adjust. Who knows maybe select/adjust sales will have to halt next.... All very very suspicious. regards mripley on 16/06/04 10:46AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle opens RISC OS future wishlist:

John, Your first paragraph is exactly what I'm saying about development problems and the branch is currently stifling development. There are two paths nobody knows which way things will go but if the Omega/Xscale becomes reality then its choice between 20% Iyonix/RO5 or 71%/Omega/Select. You could develop both for a short while but the paths will diverge as time goes on and it will not be cost effective to support the 20% side. If the Omega/Xscale becomes a reality then it is not "wallowing in the past" as you put it but would actually be more advanced than Iyonix/RO5. It also allows for a cleaner upgrade path for those at the fork and a cost effective upgrade path for those already treading down it. What evidence do I have that emulation users would return to native hardware ? Well I don't it's based on the discussions and defense of emulation that have been bandied about the various newsgroups. There are more voices saying it will promote a migration to RISCOS with the inevitable uptake of hardware than those that say it won't. Just for the record I was always one of those who argued the latter, like yourself, but am willing to concede to the majority opinion. Again this is one of those wait and see moments. However it would not matter if the RISCOS fork was rejoined. Just for record I'm at the RO4 branch and waiting for : A) Select on Iyonix in which case I'd be an Iyonix owner by Xmas at the latest. B) Omega is complete with an Xscale in which case I'd be an Omega owner by Xmas. C) Select/Omega branch dies a death in which case I'd be an Iyonix owner whenever. D) Plans to merge the OS's in which case I'd purchase Select for my RiscPC and then whatever Xscale hardware has the rejoined OS when it appears. The reason for choice B over Iyonix/RO5 is that the market potential is 71% versus 20%. Now if people migrate over to Iyonix such that it becomes 50:50 then change choice B to an Iyonix since as has been said before Castle seem to be more professional. The problem is there are an awful lot of "personalities" and prejudices flying around to really know who is professional and who isn't. Stephen : if you want to comment about it being a silly discussion then say so without preceding your statement by contributing to the "silly discussion". That's just hypocritical. Unless you are saying that one side of the discussion is silly in which case that's just plain nasty. Everyone is entitled to their opinion aren't they ? regards, Malcolm mripley on 20/05/04 09:21AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle opens RISC OS future wishlist:

S. Williams - my 71% is based on all the users of RO3.7,4 and Select running the OS on a RiscPC (a reasonable assumption). It is these owners that are likely to upgrade their hardware if the applications have developed enough. Now here's an if I posted on CSAMisc today. "If" the Omega is released with a fully functional Xscale then 71% of the current userbase has a hardware and OS upgarde path that is fully compatible with their existing hardware/OS/applications. The Iyonix/RO5 path would be a dead end since a developer has a choice either 71% or 20%, a no brainer. The Select side also has the added advantage that the current emulation users can upgrade to an Xscale with no software issues. If the OS paths are merged such that Omega and Iyonix are running the same OS then neither path is a dead end. However this has to happen asap before the differences become too great. I think most people want this. If Select is being developed to the point where RiscPC hardware is an issue (re Julians point about thumbnails) then , to me anyway, it suggests that the developers know something.....like a functional Xscale card for the Omega ? regards, Malcolm mripley on 19/05/04 3:48PM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On Castle opens RISC OS future wishlist:

The improvements that Castle state are not specific and you could say that every single OS release has met these criteria from Arthur onwards ! I strongly suspect that Castle realise that they be losing the initiative of OS improvements and are trying to deflect attention from the advances in Select. The bottom line is that the Riscos market is small and duplication of effort is utter madness. I'll say it again can somebody physically close to Jack and Paul knock their stubborn heads together. The excuse that features in Select can't be ported to RO5 that's bull.... It's a smokescreen for "Jack and Paul can't agree a way forward but don't want to admit it". Reality check to all those singing the praises of Castle as the "only" way forward. If you want more applications then you MUST have a single OS otherwise developers will have horrendous problems getting code to work with both versions. These problems will increase as the differences increase. I did a quick search for some rough numbers and from what I can glean if an application developer concentrated on RO5 only, they would lose 80% of the userbase !!!!!!!!! frigging hell come on people. The survey on Iconbar states that 20% of users are RO5, 71% are RO3.7,4,select, the remainder are pre 3.7. So the economics of the current riscos marketplace would dictate that an application would make more money ignoring RO5 not embracing it to the exclusion of all others. Now I totally agree that the future is ARM hardware not emulation but there is still more none xscale ARM hardware in use. It would be a no brainer to provide an upgrade path through RO3.7,4,select to RO? where RO? is the branch re-joining. People would use applications and an OS with super duper features which go slowly on a Strongarm but fly on an Xscale. They would then be desperate to upgrade to the latest hardware are you listening Jack ?. Otherwise people are amazing at living in ignorance with old applications. You bribe people with software features to purchase better hardware ! (Microsoft do it all the time with unbelievable success). You also solve the problem with people having invested in Select (more users than RO5 don't forget) who don't want to see their investment as a waste of money. mripley on 19/05/04 10:16AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

On RISC OS 4.39 and 4.02 pricings confirmed:

A split OS tree is bad news for a small market such as ours. Even a large userbase for a split OS is arguable. As time goes on the differences between the two will become so large that it would be impossible to have applications running on both. This would then mean that developers would have to have two copies of applications. Fine if your userbase is in the millions otherwise it's madness. It's just not cost effective. The margins are tight enough as it is in the RISCOS world. From my own situation , I always upgraded to the latest OS as soon as it became available. Except now. I recently threw out my kids PC an ageing 120Mhz Pentium with windows 95 (I got pissed off wit blue screens all the time!) and replaced it with a 2.4Gig Windows XP (£500 with all the hardware bells and whistles but excluding several hundred CD's of bundled nigh on useless software !). Up to XP, windows and RISCOS were still comparable with pros and cons on both but, IMO, RISCOS generally winning. Not anymore, XP has solved an awful lot of the issues that windows had compared to RISCOS it is also streets ahead in look and feel for the user. It may be fluff without substance but if that's the case then it's a no brainer as far as develpment is concerned isn't it.......oh hang on a minute who's going to do it.......will it ever get done?...........never at this rate. We have a 10 year old OS and it looks and feels it. The chances of weaning folks off XP to RISCOS even with all the anti-microsoft sentiment will be nigh on impossible. A situation I find really sad since RISCOS has far more potential to be user friendly than XP. regards, Malcolm mripley on 24/02/04 10:32AM [ Reply | Permalink | Report ]

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