RISCOS Ltd have been busy bees over the summer and the fruits of their work are now available for all subscribers to download. RISC OS Select 1 was a step up from RISC OS 4.0 and Select 2 shows as much improvement again. As the Select site reports, the beta version of Select 2 is now online for download if you’re a Select subscriber. A full stable CD based release is expected in 3 weeks time.
RiscOS 4.32 Select 2 Beta Released
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I have always wanted to try a RISC PC. But two things stop me:
First,is there any place in the US that sells a RISC PC? And second,are the prices “mac like” in that they are more than a windows pc. Thanks.
look at
http://www.virtualacorn.co.uk/index2.htm
£29.00 shoudn’t be too much 😉
Thoems
In a previous job I worked on software for a web browsing box that plugged into your TV. It actually just looked like a keyboard with a SCART cable coming out of the back. Anyway, it must be said that RiscOS is simply wonderful… tiny yet more useable than many other OSs: triumph of design and all that.
If konqueror and it’s IOSlaves wern’t so wonderful then I’d go right back to running ROX-Filer.
See: http://rox.sourceforge.net/
RalphT
If I can find 3 resellers in New Zealand, and 5 in Australia, I am sure you can find *alleast* one in the US.
No, the pricing isn’t too bad. As for the speed. Remember, don’t be put off by the “low specs”, we are talking about a RISC based computer with a very efficient operating system.
Yes, indeed it is true that MHz-es are not fully important, but you cannot compare the performance of a RPC at 233MHz (or Max 300MHz) with a PC running at 2GHz.
But due to the fact that the OS is *really* embedded with the RPC hardware, it makes for *very* efficient working. However, software algorithms (like unsharp masking in Photodesk) take quite some time, due to the fact that (1) pure raw speed (2) no FP core in the StrongARM
Still, I *really* like RISC OS, and I’m going to try Select 4.32 soon.
PS: there is *no* photo editing application that has the combination of features and user-friendliness than PhotoDesk on RISC OS.. Photoshop doesn’t even come close (in features yes, but not in user friendliness.. doh)
How about comparing prices also??? —> 2GHz PC vs 233MHz RISC workstation; the pricing of the very few and actual RISC computers is nonsense.
StrongARM Main Motherboard MKII – £399. Dig that, they must have gold or somethin’.
Kinetic and Omega RiscPCs start at £1000!!!, and they are nothing to kill for
The RISC (Acorn) would be an interesting plattform if the prices were a bit more rational, nowadays it’s kind of a joke. Pity.
You gave you your answer yourself
<the pricing of the very FEW>
Do you really think you can sell a MB which is sold a few 1000 against one which sold millions at the same price ? Are you living on the moon ? Or why do you think for example that the small electro-cars cost as much as a ‘real’ car ? It’s all about how many you can sell !!!!!
I’m really tired of people who say, its more expansive than this 2GHz P4 at the wall-mart. If it would be cheaper I would buy one. I think they only buy one when it is the market-leader !! So please don’t bother me with this ‘I buy if its cheaper’-crap !!!
Just as a example:
If you bought a Risc PC in 1996 (strong Arm release) you would still have a fast machine to do your work NOW. If you sum the cost of all the PC’s you have bought in the last 8 years, do you still think that the RiscPC is expensive ?
thoems
6 years. 8 years is the lunch of the Risc PC 600 😉
Acorn has since 1987 a 3 button mouse which is FULLY used. How long does windows use the second button (*rofl and only for a context click ? 😉
Thoems
“If I can find 3 resellers in New Zealand, and 5 in Australia, I am sure you can find *alleast* one in the US.”
Not true, AFAIK. Acorns were never imported into the USA, and never had any local dealers, resellers, etc, in the USA. According to http://home.in.tum.de/~atterer/acorn.html
“The Acorn platform is probably one of the smallest computer platforms, consisting of some estimated 500,000 machines (excluding older 8-bit computers). A majority of them were sold in Great Britain, as Acorn Group were situated at Cambridge, and many were bought by British schools. However, there are also a lot of private users of Acorn computers, mostly – in order of importance – in Great Britain & (Northern) Ireland, Germany, France, Australia & New Zealand, the Netherlands and Italy. There are practically no Acorns to be found in the USA.”