So you thought you would find here an impartial, knowledgeable comparison of RISC OS with the more popular and better known operating systems? Think again; I have been so steeped in RISC OS, since even before its appearance two decades ago, were that possible, and I am so ignorant of other operating systems, that I cannot honestly deliver to you a balanced picture. Well, that is the modern usage of apology over with, so let us get on to the older sense. Note: This is the 2nd entry to our Alternative OS Contest which runs through 14th July!
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Member since:2005-11-12
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-09-28
That was my point. All programmers are users but not all users are programmers. The statement "in theory users can write their own" implies that non-programmers can create file systems. To me, that's what it sugests anyway.
I'd be happy with the statement, "Users can create their own icons".
"Programmers can create their own file systems" is a truer, less abigious statement.
Member since:2005-09-17
"To save an object to a directory you must open the directory's window and drag the object's icon inside."
True, one of the most missed features of RO on other OSes for me.
Available on Linux too:
http://rox.sourceforge.net/desktop/about_rox
There's even a freedesktop.org spec for it:
http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Standards_2fdirect_2dsave
Now, if only more applications supported it...
Other RISC OS type features from the article available with ROX include:
- Application directories (except for !Boot, which is a security risk in today's networked / multi-user world).
- Popup menus without menu bars.
- Icon bar (not quite the same, but used in a similar way).
- Filetypes (MIME types stored in extended attributes).
One thing that really stands out in RISC OS though is the simplicity of the whole system. Everything about the way it works is simple to understand, and you really can know what every single file on your system does.
The knowledge that even if you wipe the entire drive, your system will still boot and be usage is great too, although that's more a feature of the way the OS is delivered (in ROM) than the OS itself.
Member since:2005-07-13
"The knowledge that even if you wipe the entire drive, your system will still boot and be usage is great too, although that's more a feature of the way the OS is delivered (in ROM) than the OS itself."
I think it would be fair to say that this is also a feature of the OS. Writing an OS that loads from ROM is different from writing an OS that runs from ROM. The latter requires a clear separation between the code space and the memory that the code uses, along with an architecture that allows it. Perhaps I'm over emphasising this a little, but RISC OS certainly had to be designed specifically to allow it to run from ROM.
Member since:
2005-09-28
"However, Acorn found that all the currently available CPUs, from Motorola, National Semiconductor, Intel and Texas Instruments, were simply not fast enough at handling interrupts to work satisfactorily in this role. So they decided to manufacture their own!"
Some of the first ARM chips were used in a second processor add-on for the Beeb but this was not the main reason for the creation of the ARM chip.
" [the Arc] It had a graphical user interface - the second to appear for public consumption (Apple's Lisa got there first)."
There were a few comercially available GUI interfaces before Arthur/RISCOS: MacOS, Amiga OS, TOS, etc.
"Different machines may come with support for different filing systems, and in theory users can write their own."
Programers can write them, not users.
"Better to use a taskwindow, which gives a command line in a window."
There can't be many OSes that don't have this feature.
"To save an object to a directory you must open the directory's window and drag the object's icon inside."
True, one of the most missed features of RO on other OSes for me.
"Files in filing systems have a filetype."
Agreed, another great feature.
"There are two sorts of directory. Plain directories and applications."
More great features.
"If you need to boot the computer from a filing system then you need an application in its root directory called !Boot, whose structure is mostly mandated."
The machine boots from ROM, you don't even need a HD.
" The 77 file limit is long gone, but you cannot help admiring Acorn's chutzpah."
A limitation that could be worked around in the era of floppy disks and 20meg HDs but one that became tiresome beyond that era.