RISC OS: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:38, 14 March 2023

Revision as of 08:02, 11 July 2023

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Between 1987 and 1998, RISC OS was included in every ARM-based Acorn computer model, including the Acorn Archimedes line, Acorn's R line (with [[RISC iX]] as a dual-boot option), [[RiscPC]], [[Acorn A7000|A7000]], and prototype models such as the Acorn [[Acorn Computers#NewsPad|NewsPad]] and [[Phoebe (computer)|Phoebe computer]]. A version of the OS, named [[NCOS]], was used in [[Oracle Corporation]]'s [[Network Computer]] and compatible systems.

After the break-up of Acorn in 1998, development of the OS was [[Fork (software development)|fork]]ed and continued separately by several companies, including {{nowrap|[[RISCOS Ltd]]}}, [[Pace Micro Technology]], and [[Castle Technology]]. Since then, it has been bundled with several ARM-based desktop computers such as the [[Iyonix PC]]<ref name="Acorn press release 1998-10-12">{{cite press release|work=Acorn Computers Ltd |title=Acorn announces distribution deal with Castle Technology for RISC based products |date=12 October 1998 |publisher=Acorn Computers Ltd |url=http://www.acorn.co.uk/acorn/news/press/castle.html |access-date=2011-01-06 |quote=(October 12th 1998), Cambridge, UK-Acorn announced today that it has completed negotiations with Castle Technology for them to distribute Acorn products. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990506180305/http://www.acorn.co.uk/acorn/news/press/castle.html |archive-date=6 May 1999}}</ref> and [[A9home]]. {{As of|March 2017}}, the OS remains forked and is independently developed by {{nowrap|RISCOS Ltd}} and the {{nowrap|[[RISC OS Open]]}} community.

Most recent stable versions run on the ARMv3/ARMv4 [[RiscPC]], the ARMv5 [[Iyonix PC|Iyonix]],<ref name="Iyonix at a glance RO5 features">{{cite web |url=http://www.iyonix.com/iyonix/features/osfeatures.shtml |title=RISC OS 5 features |access-date=2011-01-31 |publisher=Iyonix Ltd |quote=All IYONIX pcs ship with RISC OS 5 in flash ROM. |url-status = dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110111706/http://www.iyonix.com/iyonix/features/osfeatures.shtml |archive-date=10 November 2010}}</ref> [[ARMv7]] [[Cortex-A8]] processors<ref name="theinquirer snaps leak">{{cite web |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1051924/snaps-leak-risc-os5-beagleboard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519184833/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1051924/snaps-leak-risc-os5-beagleboard |url-status=unfit |archive-date=19 May 2009 |title=Snaps leak of RISC OS5 on BeagleBoard |publisher=[[The Inquirer]] |date=27 April 2009 |access-date=2011-06-28 |last=Farrell |first=Nick |quote=A snap of an RISC OS 5, running on a BeagleBoard device powered by a 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with a built-in graphics chip, has tipped up on the world wide wibble. The port developed by Jeffrey Lee is a breakthrough for the shared-source project because it has ported the OS without an army of engineers.}}</ref><ref name="RISC OS Open wiki Cortex-A8 port status">{{cite web |url=https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/pages/Cortex-A8+port+status/versions/1 |title=Cortex-A8 port status |access-date=2011-01-31 |publisher=[[RISC OS Open]] |quote=[The port includes] a modified version of the RISC OS kernel containing support for (all) Cortex-A8 CPU cores. |archive-date=26 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026212426/https://www.riscosopen.org/hub/account/login |url-status=live }}</ref> (such as that used in the [[BeagleBoard]] and [[Touch Book]]) and [[Cortex-A9]] processors<ref name="ROOL news 2015-04-25">{{cite web |url =https://www.riscosopen.org/news/articles/2015/04/25/risc-os-5-22-stable-is-now-available |title=RISC OS 5.22 stable is now available |access-date=2015-04-25 |last=Revill |first=Steve |date=25 April 2015 |publisher=[[RISC OS Open]]}}</ref> (such as that used in the [[PandaBoard]]) and the low-cost educational [[Raspberry Pi]] computer.<ref name="iconbar newsround">{{cite web |url=http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Newsround/index1271.html |title=Newsround |work=[[The Icon Bar]] |access-date=17 October 2011 |last=Lee |first=Jeffrey |archive-date=4 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104182418/http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Newsround/index1271.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="osnews risc os">{{cite web |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/25276/Raspberry_Pi_To_Embrace_RISC_OS |title=Raspberry Pi To Embrace RISC OS |work=[[OSNews]] |date=31 October 2011 |access-date=1 November 2011 |last=Holwerda |first=Thom |archive-date=4 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104182418/http://www.osnews.com/story/25276/Raspberry_Pi_To_Embrace_RISC_OS |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="archive london show 2011">{{cite news |title=The London show 2011 |work=[[Archive (magazine)|Archive]] |date=December 2011 |last=Dewhurst |first=Christopher |volume=23 |issue=3 |page=3}}</ref> SD card images have been released for downloading free of charge to Raspberry Pi 1, 2, 3, & 4 users with a full [[graphical user interface]] (GUI) version<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads |title=Downloads |publisher=Raspberry Pi |access-date=2013-09-02 |archive-date=14 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114192342/http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads |url-status=live }}</ref> and a [[command-line interface]] only version (RISC OS Pico, at 3.8&nbsp;MB).<ref name="Pico">{{cite web|url=https://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/raspberry-pi|title=RISC OS Open: Raspberry Pi|work=riscosopen.org|access-date=25 April 2015|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320161349/https://www.riscosopen.org/content/downloads/raspberry-pi|url-status=live}}</ref>

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=== Font manager ===

RISC OS was the first operating system to provide scalable anti-aliased fonts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/6170/Emulating_RISC_OS_under_Windows/page1/ |title=Emulating RISC OS under Windows |access-date=2011-05-12 |last=Round |first=Mark |date=26 February 2004 |work=OSnews |publisher=[[OSNews]] |quote=Many of the UI concepts that we take for granted were first pioneered in RISC OS, for instance: scalable anti-aliased fonts and an operating system extendable by 'modules', while most of the PC world was still on Windows 3.0. |archive-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114004250/http://www.osnews.com/story/6170/Emulating_RISC_OS_under_Windows/page1/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://telcontar.net/Misc/GUI/RISCOS/ |title=The RISC OS GUI |access-date=2011-05-12 |last=Ghiraddje |date=22 December 2009 |publisher=Telcontar.net |quote=Only with Mac OS X did any mainstream graphical interface provide the smoothly rendered, fractionally spaced type that Acorn accomplished in 1992 or earlier. |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716233538/http://telcontar.net/Misc/GUI/RISCOS/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/old/content/2005/05/gui.ars/6 |title=A History of the GUI |access-date=2011-05-25 |first=Jeremy |last=Reimer |date=May 2005 |publisher=[[ArsTechnica]] |quote=[...] in 1987, the UK-based company Acorn Computers introduced their [...] GUI, called "Arthur", also was the first to feature anti-aliased display of on-screen fonts, even in 16-color mode! |archive-date=2 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202061840/http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2005/05/gui.ars/6 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/21713/Screen_Fonts_Shape_Accuracy_or_On-Screen_Readability_ |title=Screen Fonts: Shape Accuracy or On-Screen Readability? |access-date=2011-06-13 |first=Thom |last=Holwerda |date=23 June 2005 |publisher=[[OSNews]] |quote=[...] it was RISC OS that had the first system-wide, intricate [...] font rendering in operating systems. |archive-date=19 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119223926/http://www.osnews.com/story/21713/Screen_Fonts_Shape_Accuracy_or_On-Screen_Readability_ |url-status=live }}</ref> Anti-aliased fonts were already familiar from Arthur, and their presence in RISC OS was confirmed in an early 1989 preview,<ref name="PCW 1989-01">{{cite news | first1=Dick | last1=Pountain | title=Screentest: Archie RISC OS | work=[[Personal Computer World]] | date=January 1989 | url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Mags/PCW/PCW_Jan89_RISCOS.pdf | page=154 | access-date=2021-03-04 | quote=[ArcDraw] can also add text in multiple sizes and fonts to a drawing (including anti-aliased fonts) | archive-date=13 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613044349/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Mags/PCW/PCW_Jan89_RISCOS.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> featuring in the final RISC OS 2 product, launched in April 1989.<ref name="acornuser198902">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser079-Feb89/page/n10/mode/1up | title=RISC OS is ready for April launch | work=Acorn User | date=February 1989 | access-date=31 October 2020 | pages=9 }}</ref>

A new version of the font manager employing "new-style outline fonts" was made available after the release of RISC OS,<ref name="acornuser198904_fonts">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser081-Apr89/page/n8/mode/1up | title=New fonts for DTP | work=Acorn User | date=April 1989 | access-date=3 May 2021 | pages=7 }}</ref> offering full support for the printing of scalable fonts, and was provided with Acorn Desktop Publisher.<ref name="acornuser198910">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser087-Oct89/page/n135/mode/2up | title=Hold the Font Page | work=Acorn User | date=October 1989 | access-date=14 April 2021 | last1=Bell | first1=Graham | pages=134–135 }}</ref> It was also made available separately and bundled with other applications.<ref name="acornuser199004_font">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser093-Apr90/page/n20/mode/1up | title=Acorn Customer Hotline | work=Acorn User | date=April 1990 | access-date=2 May 2021 | pages=19 }}</ref> This [[outline font]] manager provides support for the rendering of font outlines to bitmaps for screen and printer use, employing [[spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing]] for on-screen fonts, utilising sub-pixel anti-aliasing and caching for small font sizes.<ref name="raine1991">{{ cite conference | url=https://archive.org/details/1989-proceedings-5th-comp-graphics-workshop/page/25/mode/1up | title=The Acorn Outline Font Manager | last1=Raine | first1=Neil | last2=Seal | first2=David | last3=Stoye | first3=William | last4=Wilson | first4=Roger | conference=Fifth Computer Graphics Workshop | ___location=Monterey, California | date=November 1989 | publisher=USENIX Association | pages=25–36 }}</ref> At the time of the introduction of Acorn's outline font manager, the developers of rival desktop systems were either contemplating or promising outline font support for still-unreleased products such as Macintosh [[System 7]] and [[OS/2]] version 2.<ref name="acornuser198911_mytype">{{ cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser088-Nov89/page/n69/mode/2up | title=My Type | work=Acorn User | date=November 1989 | access-date=7 May 2021 | last1=Bell | first1=Graham | pages=68–69 }}</ref>