Welcome to My RISC OS Page

Introduction

This site was constructed using a variety of software packages some of which are still being developed today. A machine that runs RISC OS* natively is the tiny a9Home and available from CJEMicro's. If you like RISC OS it can also be run on the PC and now the MAC in the form of Virtual Acorn*. A company that specialises in supplying windows based PC systems and customising them to run on Virtual Acorn is RISCube*. As from the 30th September 2008 the Iyonix desktop series computer is no longer available.

The Iyonix version of RISC OS has been made open source by RISC OS Open Limited and now runs on a relatively new piece of minature hardware called the Beagleboard details of which can be obtained by clicking here. The basic version can be built for around 200 UKP including a case. Remember you will also need a 5V power supply, flash memory card to store the OS, a USB keyboard and mouse and a compatible monitor (resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 are possible with monitors that can handle a 30Hz vertical refresh rate). Users who require a ready built RISC OS computer can purchase an ARMini, featuring a Beagleboard, flash memory and power supply. The ARMini is available from RComp.

Software Used to Develop This Site

• A rather tedious operation is writing a lot of text. This is best handled by a document processor. EasiWriter* handles this extremely efficiently by converting text to html. EasiWriter will also interpret most Microsoft WORD files. This is a 2-way process - documents typed in EasiWriter can also be converted to WORD files.
• A text editor to enable the HTML code to be compiled. StrongED* is my preferred editor.
• HTML Macro editor. For the small amount of HTML I produce I use Richard Goodwin's HTML³. Despite the lack of program development it still produces HTML that most browsers can render.
• A multi-format viewer. Highly recommended is PrivateEye* by David Thomas.
• Image manipulation software is somewhat behind the Adobe competition. Although rather dated Photodesk is still very useable - if you are prepared to go through the long learning curve (the same is true however with Adobe's Photoshop). Copies may be obtainable from CJEMicro's. Photodesk is still being developed - the latest version has reached 3.09. Some rather nice features have been included a few of which are...... a permanent on-screen magnifier, a new set of air and paint brushes, new stamps, cropping improvements and better support for long filenames.
• The excellent open-source web-browser.... NetSurf*.
• A simple to use animation program.... InterGif.
• The powerful filename renaming program....Rename* by Nick Roberts.

Software Used to Develop the Graphic Images

My main area of interest is graphics. ArtWorks 2* has now become the definitive vector drawing package for RISC OS graphic users. A brilliant software author - Martin Würthner has extensively improved this easy to use and superb vector based drawing package originally conceived by a Hertfordshire based company - Computer Concepts Ltd. Sophisticated drawings can be created due to its clear interface and intuitive behaviour. If you would like some idea of its capabilities then please go to the thumbnails index page.

Some of the Features

• Rapid production of simple graphic illustrations.
• Real-time graduated fills.
• Multi-stage blends.
• Object distortion and perspective.
• Advanced printing options - example colour separations.
• Graduated transparency.
• Dynamic clipping enabling objects to be filled with bitmaps.
• Advanced polygon processing.
• Advanced text options including text area handling.
• Replication.
• Rotatable text.
• PDF import and export for multi-platform users.
• Multi-page documents.
• Sprite and PNG export with alpha masks.
• New shadow tool. ^{New feature in 2.X.00}
• Paste attributes facility. ^{New feature in 2.X.00}

Miscellaneous Graphic Software

• DrawLots programmed by Rosemary Miskin has been used extensively in the graphic designs on this site. This software has been around for many years now but still provides some excellent editable shapes.
• DrawRot. Also by the same author and used in conjunction with DrawLots some quite complex and extraordinary shapes can be created.
• Cogs*. Martin Bazley's excellent spirograph generator is a must have if you like geometric graphic design. He has recently released a new version which permits wheels within wheels. A useful StrongHelp manual accessible from the iconbar also accompanies the program. Thumbnails 10 shows some of the possibilities with Cogs2 - ArtWorks 2* has been used to embellish the designs.

• No new "Javascript" enabled browser software. Rumour has it that a Javascript version may be undertaken for NetSurf. This will depend on many factors - the integration complexity is enormous given that the browser in its current form is developed entirely by volunteers. The unix port of Firefox has been made - development is on-going.
• No up-to-date video manipulation and 3-D software.
• Unsuitable for modern graphic intensive games.

These are simply a result of insufficient financial resources being available for developing fast machines and more importantly the software. Unlike MAC OS, UNIX/Linux or the ubiquitous Microsoft windows, all RISC OS software is written by dedicated "one man bands" for sadly a rather small market. Having said all this the OS is very efficient - don't dismiss it because it runs in a negligible 4Mb of ROM. It is intuitive, free from viruses, and malware and offers high reliability with the latest RISC OS* and RISC OS OPEN*.

* development on-going

Last updated Wednesday the 21st of September, 2011

Links checked Friday the 12th of November, 2010