• ROOL announcement
• Download page, containing both the softload and the flash programmer

Castle Technology and RISC OS Open Ltd (ROOL) are pleased to announce plans for the opening-up of RISC OS source code. This step is a further major landmark in the development of the highly respected software platform. A primary objective is to bring RISC OS software to a wider community and to encourage growth in both the RISC OS user base and the developer community. This will be augmented by more rapid development of the software base and removal of critical barriers to use, normally associated with proprietary platforms.

• The RISC OS build environment
• The Shared C Library
• The main disc-based applications (!Paint, !Edit, !Draw, etc)
• Other disc-based applications (!Boot, !System, !Scrap, !Unicode, !Configure)
• Browse (otherwise known as Phoenix), WebServe and related Fetcher modules
• The USB Printer Manager, printer drivers and printer dumper modules
• The configuration plug-ins
• Some screen savers
• Other modules which are handy for developers

Pattotek Ltd owns a 30% share in the voting capital of Castle Technology Ltd ("Castle"), owner of the RISC OS Operating System and developer of RISC OS based desktop computers. Pattotek Ltd today announced that, due to diverging business interests, it is examining its options regarding Castle and would like to hear from potential investors in the RISC OS community who could be interested in gaining control of this stake in Castle.
 
Pattotek's CEO, Pete Wild said, "after almost 20 years personal involvement in RISC OS, it is regrettably no longer core business and we must consider what is best for the future of the OS". He added, "However, Castle still has a dynamic management team, and exciting new plans for the future of RISC OS; here is an opportunity for the user community to have more of a say in those plans. Given the past history between Castle and RISCOS Ltd, this could represent a chance for the re-unification of efforts to move RISC OS forward."
 
Interested parties should email castleinvest@pattotek.com

Advantage 6

One year on from when the A9home was first unveiled - it was infact sneaked into the Advantage 6 show theatre in a "makeup bag" - we see the release of the A9home.
 
CJE, who are A6's retail partners for the A9, were "so happy" with the hardware and progress, that they were confident to begin selling it at the show.
 
While A6 were disappointed that they are not yet able to totally sign-off the project - there are still niggles, not major problems, with the system, such as providing USB printing (32 bit printer drivers) and the serial port is apparently "not good".
 
So while the A9home is "not ready for everybody", it is "getting very close". People will have to be patient for the "I want everything release". The iterative beta testing programme shows there is still some work to do, but everything is "much closer each time things go out".

Exhibitors this year include Castle Technology, Genesys Developments, MW Software and the NetSurf development team, who will be demonstrating the latest developments on the open source browser.

VirtualAcorn will also be present, demonstrating their latest addition to their product family, VirtualRPC-SA, which provides emulation of the StrongARM processor in addition to the Arm710 processor it previously supported.

The theatre programme for this year's show is as follows:

Time Presentation 10:30 John Cartmell 10:45 Advantage6 - Part 1 11:30 Castle Technology 13:00 Paul Middleton - RISCOS Ltd. 14:00 ArtWorks 2 15:00 Advantage6 - Part 2

Parking at Thornes Park Athletics Stadium is free, and entry to the show costs £6, with under 5 year olds getting in free (I'd imagine that's physical age, not mental age!) The show is open from 10am until 5pm on Saturday 13th of May.

If you're going to the show this year and would like to share your thoughts of the show with us, please get in touch!

Source: Wakefield Show

For those of you with USB capabilities on your RISC OS machines, and a need for software to control USB radios, Dave Higton brings you !AVerMedia hot on the heels of !DRU-R100. !AVerMedia is free, the code is GPL, you can use it with other apps (e.g. !Alarm) and it works on both the Castle and Simtec USB stacks. So how about throwing Dave a couple of quid so he can actually buy his own unit instead of borrowing one, for when you lot start wanting support? As for where you'd actually buy an AVerMedia USB radio, I dunno, surely even CJE Micros don't... oh, they do? In stock too? Should have known.
Link: !AVerMedia

Speaking as we were of CJE Micros and their legendary stock levels, they have a few other new tricks up their sleeves. First up is the Sharp 172GW 17" LCD monitor, which has those handy dual inputs y'all apparently seem to like: one's a DVI, but with a handy converter you can plug in two regular VGA connectors and switch between them. 225 GBP (inc VAT, ex-delivery) for the monitor, 14 GBP (inc VAT) for the converter, say about a tenner for delivery.
Next up are two Iyonix-compatible external USB hard drives, in 40GB and 80GB flavours - 125 and 140 earth pounds respectively, fully inclusive. They've also reduced prices on Virtal RiscPC-equipped Windows laptops. There's a lot of other new stuff - USB seems to be in this month - but the shocking news is a "What's Not In Stock" page! It mostly seems to be old hardware (video stuff like Viewfinder 8, 32 or 128MB, Irlam VideoDesk, 24i16 or i16 and Eagle M2 podules), computers (working BBC Masters, A4s in any condition) and other bits (A540 PSU, Risc PC Econet, and unused 80 track floppy media), so if you're sitting on any of this stuff (VIGAY!) now might be the time to make a little cash...
Link: CJE Micros

David Bradforth has announced that the Alligata line of books are going digital via self-publish website lulu.com. Basic V: A Dabhand Guide by Mike Williams can currently be downloaded for $6 (what, only three and a half quid?) or bought printed for $12.45. Those prices are set to change RSN though. APDL are also looking for testers for 32-bit neutral WimpBasic and an Excel loader/exporter for Schema2! Email info(at)apdl.co.uk, but make sure you have the latest versions, returned your registration card etc.
Link: APDL

RISCOS Ltd. celebrates the "7th Anniversary of signing Agreement with Element 14" by offering RISC OS 4.39 "Adjust" ROMs for 69 quid (63 + p&p); you've only got from Wednesday 1st March to Friday 17th March for this one though.
Link: RISCOS Ltd.

Michael Foot, one of my favourite Kiwis (after Peter Jackson and my Uncle Bob of course), has released v0.59 of 8-bit Acorn emulator BeebIt. A lot of work appears to have been done to the memory handling, which has the not inconsequencial effect of allowing Level 9 adventures to run in BBC Master and B+ modes.
Link: BeebIt

Other releases

• Free books!
• Bazound RISC OS sound system configuration and diagnostic utility
• Routines v1.19 BASIC programming library
• Avalanche VNC client v0.11
• TechWriter v8.54
• FreeMem updated