RISC OS: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:31, 31 December 2024

Revision as of 00:05, 25 January 2025

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'''RISC OS''' ({{IPAc-en|r|ɪ|s|k|.|oʊ|ˈ|ɛ|s}})<ref name="acorn_developer_news_issue14">{{cite news | url=http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/DN/Acorn_DevNL14.pdf | title=RISC OS | work=ISV Department news from Acorn | publisher=Acorn Computers Limited | date=May 1989 | issue=14 | access-date=2021-02-14 | pages=2 | quote=It is RISC OS (pronounced risk oh ess, not risk oss) | archive-date=21 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521002744/http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/docs/Acorn/DN/Acorn_DevNL14.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> is an [[operating system]] designed to run on [[ARM architecture|ARM]] computers. Originally designed in 1987 by [[Acorn Computers]] of England, it was made for use in its new line of ARM-based [[Acorn Archimedes|Archimedes]] personal computers and was then shipped with other computers produced by the company. Despite the demise of Acorn, RISC OS continues to be developed today by the [[RISC OS Open]] community on version 5.0 of the system that was [[open sourced]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite webnews |date=June 21, 2022 |title=risc_os_35RISC OS: 35-year-old original Arm operating system is alive and well |first=Liam |last=Proven |url=https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/21/risc_os_35/ |websitework=www.theregister.com[[The Register]]}}</ref>

RISC OS is a [[Modular programming|modular]] operating system and takes its name from the [[reduced instruction set computer]] (RISC) architecture it supports. It incorporates a [[graphical user interface]] and a [[windowing system]]. Between 1987 and 1998, RISC OS shipped with every ARM-based Acorn computer including the 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|Oracle]]'s [[Network Computer]] and compatible systems.

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Meanwhile, in October 2002, [[Castle Technology]] released the ''Acorn clone'' [[Iyonix PC]]. This ran a [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] (in contrast to [[26-bit computing|26-bit]]) variant of RISC OS, named ''RISC OS 5''. RISC OS 5 is a separate evolution of RISC OS based upon the [[NCOS]] work done by Pace. The following year, Castle Technology bought RISC OS from Pace for an undisclosed sum. In October 2006, Castle announced a [[Source-available software|shared source]] license plan, managed by [[RISC OS Open Limited]], for elements of ''RISC OS 5''.

In October 2018, RISC OS 5 was re-licensed under the [[Apache 2.0]] license.<ref>{{Cite webnews|url=https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/23/risc_os_open_source/|title=Roughly 30 years after its birth at UK's Acorn Computers, RISC OS 5 is going open source|first=Richard|last=Speed|websitework=www.theregister.com[[The Register]]|access-date=26 October 2021|archive-date=23 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923185001/https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/23/risc_os_open_source/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018 [[RISC OS Developments]] acquired Castle Technology Ltd including its intellectual property.<ref name="riscosdev">{{cite web |url=https://www.riscosdev.com/ |title=Home |website=riscosdev.com}}</ref>