Acorn News Service Newsletter
Issue: 246 (21 December 2008)
Featured site this issue: http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=2373
General News
RISC OS South West Show 2009 announced
RISCOS Ltd is pleased to announce that it will again be running the
RISC OS South West Show in 2009 at its usual venue of the Webbington
Hotel, Loxton, on Saturday, 21st February, 2009.
The event will run from 10.00am until 3.30pm with the usual theatre
presentations as well as exhibitions. Once again there will be free
admission to the event, but there will not be any free transport
available.
<http://www.riscos.com/roadshows/SWShow2009/SWShow2009.htm>
Drobe Awards 2008
Voting is now open for the Drobe Awards 2008. The shortlist and voting
form are available at:
<http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=2381>
Midlands User Group Christmas show report
Commercial News
RISC OS Select 5i1 announced
RISCOS Ltd are happy to announce that the outstanding batch of Select 5i1
CDs have been shipped. The Select 5i1 CD image is also available as a
download from the Select members' area.
A list of features new to Select5i1 can be found at:
<http://www.riscos.com/news/news_items/PR181208>
RISC OS "Virtually Free" announced
RISCOS Ltd has announced the availability of the new "Virtually Free"
version of RISC OS 4.02 for use with Emulators (Virtual Computers). The
licence to use RISC OS 4.02 on a single computer now starts from only
GBP5.
RISC OS "Virtually Free" is a fully licensed, complete package. It
consists of a single 4MB Zip file containing a RISC OS 4.02 ROM image with
the Boot structure and other necessary applications and utilities. It is
designed to be unzipped and installed in the emulator itself with most of
the work being done from within the host environment.
Simple step by step instructions are provided for a number of emulators
designed to run RISC OS. This package is not suitable for use with "real"
RISC OS computers. Those with "real" computers should take a look at the
RISC OS Upgrade CD below.
RISCOS Ltd Managing Director Paul Middleton said, "We have been looking
at ways of making a low cost, or 'Virtually Free' version of RISC OS
available for some time. With RISCOS Ltd having now confirmed its
ownership of all versions of RISC OS produced since February 1999 we are
now in a position to offer a low cost product that acts as an introduction
to RISC OS."
The costs of the "Virtually Free" RISC OS 4.02 are:
- Download from RISCOS Ltd. web site - GBP5
- CD version by post - GBP10 (UK) or GBP12.50 (overseas)
<http://sales.riscos.com/>
RISC OS Upgrade CD
The new "RISC OS Upgrade CD", a major upgrade for RISC OS 3.6, 3.7 and
4.02 users, is now available for only GBP29.
- If your current operating system is RISC OS 3.6 or 3.7 this CD will upgrade your computer to RISC OS 4.02.
- If you are already running RISC OS 4 this CD will upgrade your computer to RISC OS 4.39 'Adjust'.
- No need to open up your machine and fit new ROMs. Just click on the Install icon on the CD to install your upgraded operating system.
- Not a 'cut-down' version but a full implementation of RISC OS 4.02 or 4.39 as a soft-load version instead of physical ROMs.
- Completely re-written installer with new tools to let you easily switch between the new OS and your original if required.
- Can be installed on any model with RISC OS 3.6, 3.7 or 4.0x and at least 20MB of free RAM.
- Suitable for Risc PC, A7000, A7000+, RiscStation 7500, Microdigital Mico & Omega and VirtualRPC-SE & -SA.
- For RISC OS 3.6 or 3.7 users, RISC OS 4.02 will give you a significant speed increase.
<http://sales.riscos.com/>
MoreDesk v1.20 available
MoreDesk version 1.20 is now available to try or buy from the 7th software
site. The latest version includes a number of new features and various bug
fixes and other improvements.
MoreDesk allows you to organise your windows over a space which is larger
than the normal desktop. MoreDesk costs GBP14.99 plus VAT.
<http://www.7thsoftware.com/moredesk/>
VirtualAcorn Christmas sale
VirtualAcorn have slashed prices for the Christmas period and VirtualRPCs
now start at under GBP50. The top end VirtualRPC-AdjustSA for either
Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X is now available for GBP79 (plus carriage),
a saving of GBP40 off the normal price.
VirtualAcorn allows RISC OS and RISC OS based applications to be run on
Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X. Each VirtualAcorn comes complete with a
fully licensed copy of RISC OS and includes hundreds of RISC OS
applications. More details can be found on the VirtualAcorn web site.
<http://www.virtualacorn.co.uk/>
SafeStore v1.03
SafeStore backup software allows RISC OS users to automatically back up
files, folders and drives within their own computer, over networks, or
even over the Internet.
The latest version includes much improved FTP support, so that you can
easily back up files and folders over the Internet (or local network).
Additionally, version 1.03 of SafeStore can be many times faster.
SafeStore costs GBP35 inc.
<http://www.rcomp.co.uk/>
Orpheus Internet Services ADSL offer
Anyone ordering a new home broadband connection before 31st December 2008
can have the new Orpheus "Broadband in a box" deal, which comprises
initial setup, first month's subscription, a four-port firewall router,
and a microfilter, for GBP100, a saving of over GBP50.
<http://www.orpheusinternet.co.uk/>
PD/Shareware News
New software summary
- sSync, backup tool
sSync is a backup tool to synchronizes two directories. sSync works only
in one direction and tries to minimize the data transfer between the
directories by looking at the differences. sSync looks at the name, the
file type, the size, and the time stamp of the files and directories to
compare source and destination. sSync knows image files and handle them
as files. sSync works on local hard discs and with network shares
including NFS. You can use sSync only in the command line. sSync is
written in BASIC and should work on all computers with RISC OS 3 and
later.
<http://www.arcsite.de/hp/cms/esoftware.html#ssync>
Updated software summary
- 7backup v1.16
Flexible command line backup tool. The main change is a massive speed-up
of skipping past excluded directories.
<http://www.7thsoftware.com/software.htm>
- Calibre v3.03
An application to design and print calendars of various formats in all
shapes and sizes. This version corrects a bug which was preventing some
Red Letter Day files from being saved to a different hard-disc/media
and a bug which could affect colour selections. The opportunity was
also taken to upgrade to the latest Dr Wimp version.
<http://www.rayfavre.me.uk/dwapps.html>
- Dr Wimp v5.00
Dr Wimp is a popular, well-established and comprehensive freeware WIMP
'programming environment' written in BBC BASIC - now in its 14th year of
continuous support and development. This version has two minor
additional features, a bug-fix, and some invisible tidying up.
<http://www.rayfavre.me.uk/drwimp.html>
- Iconv v0.10
A module providing character set conversion facilities. It is currently
used by a number of applications, most notably NetSurf. Bug fixes.
<http://www.netsurf-browser.org/projects/iconv/>
Club News
Upcoming meetings
ANS Information
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