The RISC OS North Show - 21st March 2026

It was that time of year to make the three-ish hour road trip to Warrington for the RISC OS North Show, once again held at the Village Hotel just outside the centre of town. Since we arrived in Warrington late on the Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity on the Friday to sample the town's Indoor Market. We didn't have the time to take a proper look last year, so made up for that error on this occasion. Two decent pints for under a tenner at the Hop Emporium, and a lovely choice of food stalls. What was not to like? Definitely a place to try if you're in the area.

On the Saturday, the show opened promptly at 10.30am and after paying for my good lady (my entry was free due to an offer for WROCC members), we set about the main room.

The Show Banner

Orpheus Internet were at the first table, followed by RISC OS Developments. More from them in the talks section. 

Orpheus and ROD

R-Comp Interactive were on hand with their array of machines, as well as software packages including the new MailPrint, which received a full briefing in their theatre talk. It was also nice to see the 18-inch Asus laptop that R-Comp sell that can be supplied set up with emulators galore. It's a decent machine, and if you can stomach Windows 11 (I can't), then it's a very useful option to consider.

R-Comp

R-Comp

R-Comp

In the first corner was Nemo2000 who was there showing off software which included standalone modules and a modified version of BASIC: NemoBASIC. Sadly, due to the popularity of the stand (and my timing), I never got a chance to speak to them. Bugger.

Nemo2000

RISC OS Open

RISC OS Open

Elesar

There was a brief stop at RISC OS Open and a chat with Steve, followed by a look at Elesar's excellent keyboard (my good lady and I have one each, so it was more of a question of do we need a spare one? No, apparently, we don't), before reaching Dynabyte Software in the second corner. They were at last year's show but I never got round to speaking to them then. I remedied that this time and had a wonderful two player game of a Pong clone using hand built rotary controllers. There are future plans in motion so one to keep an eye on me thinks. 

Dynabyte

RISCOSBits

Just look at it (the keyboard/display in the middle). It's GLORIOUS!

RISCOSBits had their wide array of goodies, including some nice laptop stuff, wood-effect 5-litre ITX cases, and a really cool keyboard/screen that has no real use in the RISC OS world but I do want one. Whether it's £220 of want one is another question. I did pick up the Plus Five add-on for my existing DIY Three, and I will get round to putting it all together at some point. Lastly, a quartet of slate coasters rounded off the spend with Andy.

Martin Eastwood's set up.

North One Communications had their Organizer table set out for those needing a personal information manager application, and next to them was Martin Eastwood, showing off the Frosted Themes he's been working on. We had a lovely chat and I walked away with one of the many USB sticks he'd brought containing the software. 

Sine Nomine were showing off their updates to RiscOSM, including the new PlaneSpot 1.00, a Python app that can be used in OSM maps to show air traffic. 

Chris Hall sorted out a copy of the Impression manual, along with a USB stick with extra software on it, and OwlArt's table was a blaze of light and colour with multiple Pi-based projects. 

Drag 'N Drop

In the centre row of tables, Drag 'N Drop had their latest issue available as well as back issue collections and print copies of their listing books. I grabbed a copy of The Giant Book of Applications, and Chris kindly gave me details of the update service for people who had bought the 100 BBC and Electron Books collection. 

Steve Fryatt

Steve Fryatt had his usual array of applications to talk about, and it was pleasing to hear that development of Puzzles, the port of Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection has finished. I still drop into a few of these every now and again when time permits, and some are really, really, addictive. 

AMCOG (Kalimba in the background)

AMCOG Games' new game, Silver River Kingdom, was available to buy for the princely sum of £15. A modern day take on 1981's Yellow River Kingdom, this is a resource management simulator that has proven to be engrossing and challenging. One of the cool things about attending a show is that you get to see behind the scenes of the game's development, which is this case included discovering a musical instrument I'd never seen before: the Kalimba. Also known as a thumb piano, this was used to create some of the music in Silver River Kingdom, and whilst I really do not need another time sink, they're easily available and quite affordable... and one is being delivered Wednesday next week! Curse you, Tony!!! ;-)

Soft Rock Software

Soft Rock Software had no new software sadly, but work is progressing on a couple of fronts, so all I could pick up there was a neat RISC OS compatible mouse mat. As they were in the area, Vince, and Bryan from ROUGOL, had taken the opportunity to visit Jodrell Bank observatory, so a few photographs were shown at the Soft Rock Stand. 

ROUGOL stand

The Manchester User Group and RISC OS User Group of London had tables, and it was nice to chat to Bryan. The Wakefield RISC OS Computer Club were also present, and they soon relieved me of another year's subscription fee. 

A tower of hybrid beauty at the WROCC table

That just left the charity stand and the North West Computer Museum display in a side room. Although there was a few good BBC offerings at the stand, I resisted temptation as, really, have you seen the size of a Beeb? They have a larger footprint than you'd think. 

NW Computer Museum

NW Computer Museum

NW Computer Museum

The Museum display started with an Acorn System 5 and ended with a Spectrum and C64, with a Beeb, Elk, A3000, and A7000 filling the gap. 

Charity stand

Charity stand

There were just four theatre talks this year, which actually worked to the show's advantage, as in previous years it has felt a bit rushed once the talks started, what with 45 minute limits to the talks (often over-running), and then only 15 minutes until the next one meaning you kind of had maybe the first hour or so to see the actual traders. This year, there was a good hour after the last talk, and of the three presentations I attended (an on-going back issue meant leaving the show early so I missed Sine Nomine's), they all kept to the designated run time. 

RISC OS Developments/Orpheus took the first slot, with discussion on Orpheus' increased speed capabilites, and details on RISC OS 64, a new path to try and get RISC OS into the 64-bit world. There was also a live demo of the new firewall for RISC OS.

Update 06.04.26 - The WROCC YouTube channel now has this talk available for viewing here.

R-Comp put their new MailPrint application front and centre, and for owners of modern wi-fi enabled printers, this is a real benefit for people who need to print things. There was an update on storage devices - namely namespaces, which permit more flexibility for users, especially with large capacity drives, and a comment that there was little new hardware as what was on offer was pretty much the limit of the 32-bit era. There was also a quick demo of R-Comp's Hydra computer.

Update 20.04.26 -  The WROCC YouTube channel now has this talk available for viewing here.

RISC OS Open provided an update on the work towards the next stable version of RISC OS, 5.32, which should be available in the second half of this year. A Moonshot update brought into focus the funding that has been raised and the funding challenges that lie ahead. An anonymous benefactor has offered a donation matching window between now and the 20th of June, up to a total of £4,000 of donations, so that was a positive piece of news. 

Details were shared as to the status of various module updates, and the key message was that changes being made would also benefit existing users as best they could. There was a request for people to help out if they could, either development, testing or donations, and the possibility was raised of moving ROOL to charitable status in the future. 

Update 12.04.26 - The WROCC YouTube channel now has this talk available for viewing here. 

Update 27.04.26 -  The WROCC YouTube channel now has the Sine Nomine Software talk available for viewing here.

These are but summaries and in due course, the videos of the talks will be available on YouTube. When they are, I'll update this post. 

All in all, this was another good show, and it was reassuring to see it make it to a second year - from my wargaming show experience, that is no mean feat! My only criticism of last year - that the noise from the show during the talks was rather distracting for those sitting at the back - was not an issue this time round.  I would say that the audio set up was louder this year, so that removed that thorn. The show itself did feel a little flat to begin with, but by mid-afternoon, there was a bit more of a buzz, and whilst a couple of familiar faces were missing, a couple of new ones filled the gaps. 

Hopefully we'll see a 2027 show, and yes, all being well, I'll attend that one too. I do keep looking at the London Show as an option, but the logistics are an issue.

OwlArt table

OwlArt table

As for RISC OS itself, well, it's still here and is still a very useful and fun OS to use. The keen of eye may have noticed the dual approach to 64-bit development. I'll say this loudly now: I have no horse in this race. I just want to keep using the OS, but the risk of duplication and wasted effort in what is, admittedly, a niche operating system, all seems a wee bit silly. We'll see how it goes, but there is a history of multiple approaches in the community and I don't think a repeat of that would be a good thing. 

You still have the option of emulation if actually hardware isn't your thing, but what about an FPGA core? Anyone considered that? After all, there are Gameboy Advance and 3DO cores in development, so is it not beyond the possibility of someone looking at that? 

Anyhoo, that was the 2026 RISC OS North Show and a fine one it was too. Shows are an important aspect of any hobby, and with just this and the London Show in the UK, and the Big Ben shindig in the Netherlands, trying to get to at least one of them should be a goal for any existing user or potentially interested party. 

The RISC OS North Show - 29th March 2025

It was with some anticipation that we of TIT Towers journeyed to the town of Warrington in Cheshire for the inaugural RISC OS North show being held at the Village Hotel there (sadly not in a Lotus Super Seven S2, but neither being chased by giant white balloons, so clouds, silver linings etc). With the sad demise of the long running Wakefield show (which for the last three years had been held in Bradford, so another chance for the former West Wing star Bradford Wakefield gag to be exhumed for one last huzzah), RISC OS North found itself much like the titular space station in Babylon 5 - RISC OS's last best hope for a show north of London (by a matter of 8 minutes or so compared to the South West Show, according to Google). So how was it?

Well, pretty bloody good, to put it succinctly. I'm not going to repeat the contents of the rather excellent report from The Icon Bar, nor am I going to cover the four theatre talks in much detail - Mark has already done that here, as well as some nice photo coverage, so aside from the top image of the Soft Rock stand, there's no other imagery in this post - please click the link to TIB. An aside: if you want to keep up to date with all things RISC OS, not only do we have The Icon Bar, but also Riscository as well, so bookmark them to stay in the know. The ROOL forums are another font of knowledge that deserves your attention. What does follow, however, are my thoughts, impressions and random musings on the show and the weekend in general.

With TIT Towers location in deepest, darkest County Durham (north by north west at the cathedral, if you hit the old steelworks, you've gone too far, definitely DO NOT turn left at Albuquerque!), it was something of a near three hour drive to Warrington, including a nice little stop off at Kirby Stephen for refreshments on the way, and then a quiet Thursday night spent at The Waterside pub. The attached hotel to the Waterside was our base for the weekend, and just a couple of minutes walk from the Village Hotel itself - and much more reasonable value for rooms, too. 

The Friday was spent seeing what Warrington had to offer and, should we return (see below), we'll be making a quicker beeline to the Warrington Market, where numerous small food businesses are located along with a large seating area. The food we did have to go was lovely, so plenty of other options to try again in the future. As for the town itself, not a bad little place, and although some of it looks like Consett with the charm, none of it approached the level of Stanley without it. If you know, you know. Friday evening saw us back at the Waterside pub where the first points were scored on the "They're in with the RISC OS crowd" bingo card. Next year, we'll have an Observers book(let) ready. 

Saturday dawned and, after a frankly disappointing hotel breakfast (yet their evening meals were really good, so go figure), we wandered to the show venue. Admittance started at 10.30, and we were soon wandering the stalls. Conversations were had, some money changed hands, and it was great to catch up with familiar faces as well as talk to new ones too. It really is a friendly community should you wish to attend future events.

This year, the hardware purchase was a RISCOSbits DIY Three, as my near six year old PiHard began pining for the fjords a couple of months back. I'm looking forward to the build process as well as giving the new casing something of a funky paint job. 

Other pick ups included the Drag N' Drop back catalogue, Soft Rock Software's revised Software Collection, the latest title from Amcog Games, Morphix, and paying my membership dues for the Wakefield Club. A t-shirt from RISC OS Open covered the last of the cash purchases, and the only other item collected that day was the brand new issue of Archive magazine from its stand, manned this year by Colin from Samcoupe.com. It was nice to have a catch up, despite the very last minute delivery of the issues (about 9am, I believe he said), and he also had some top of the counter SAM Coupe goods for sale - issues of SAM Revival, key rings, a framed ASIC, and he was more than happy to show off some new hardware too. 

One thing I didn't pick up from the charity stall was a huge back collection of Archive issues, and although the appearance of an Iyonix was also a temptation, there simply isn't room at TIT Towers to do it justice. Opposite that stall was a lovely display by the North West Computer Museum. We visited (and donated kit) there last year, and although we had no time this year, quite a few of the exhibitors had either taken advantage of its proximity to have a gander before the show, or were planning to go the next day. Warnings were passed on about the rather generous cheese toasties we "experienced" last year. Seriously, there was a lot of cheese!

The layout of the show was dictated by the venue, with a dividing wall blocking off most of the exhibitors from the theatre area, which in the previous venue was is a separate room. This worked pretty well, but there was the slight quibble that if you were sat at the back rows of the theatre seating, there was a bit of noise overspill from the show area. A minor issue and one that was fed back to the organisers. They have thoughts for a show next year which will see that disappear so, yeah, that was my only criticism of the show.  

Everything else was spot on, and credit to Richard, Andrew and everyone else involved in putting this show together at relatively short notice. It was well organised and seemed to have a buzz that made the whole day feel even better. As you may have noted from the above, there are plans for a show at the same venue next year, and probably around the same time of year. Richard explained their reasoning clearly in his theatre chat, and to be honest, the small window between the winter weather and the wedding season is perfectly suited for a northern RISC OS show. What I can say is that if there is a RISC OS North, I will happily make the journey. It's a worthy successor to the Wakefield shows of lore and long may there continue to be a northern event!

There was also, however, talk of the London show at the end of October, and whilst it would make for a lovely trip (as well as seeing the capital because apart from a trio of wargames shows at the Excel pre-Covid, I haven't been to the capital proper for some twenty seven years, and there's a lot of cool stuff to see - the priority, obviously, would be the RISC OS show). I'll look at the logistics to see if that's a go-er, but in the meantime, it's just good to know that the UK has two RISC OS shows well spaced both geographically and in the calendar, and if you can make it, there's always the RISC OS eXperience in The Netherlands in May.

RISC OS is still a fun and funky hobbyist OS for people to use, and as long as you are aware of its limitations, there's no reason not to give it a try if you want to. Maybe the Moonshots Initiative will pick up support to secure the future of the OS in a 64-bit world (The Register covered that as well), but regardless of that, there has never been a better time than the present to dive in. You'll find the majority of the movers and shakers in the RISC OS world listed on the RISCOS North show website here.

Archive Magazine - Volume 25.6 Review

Last week, an email arrived from Archive Magazine editor Gavin Smith containing a link to a digital copy of the latest issue, 25.6. It was a pleasant surprise to see such a copy being sent out to subscribers of the physical magazine a few days before that arrived in the post and, as it is the Wakefield (but in Bradford) RISC OS show this weekend (which I hope to attend), I thought it timely to provide a quick review of the final edition in the current volume.

There are the usual 56 pages (including covers) and it begins with a lovely picture from Tollymore Forest Park in County Down. After a brief but informative editorial, we hit the rather lengthy newsdesk, coming in at eight pages. There are notes on forthcoming shows, a new machine from R-Comp, various software updates and the like. Indeed, there is quite a lot to take in here. 

The first feature is from Richard Hallas and covers the use of the cog logo to represent RISC OS. It's an interesting piece, not only providing a bit of background to the use of the Acorn nut in previous years, but also the reasons and benefits of changing to the increasingly familiar cog. Following that is an update from Bernard Boase to a previous article (Archive 25.3) about the various distros available for RISC OS. Here, he provides further information about the Cloverleaf Distro and some thoughts on it.  

John McCartney gives us a article on running RPCEmu on Linux Mint, as well as a link to his guide to the process, followed by four pages from Andrew Rawnsley, who provides a beginners guide to what RISC OS Developments do, their past achievements and how they operate. Chris Hall made my head explode with four pages on how to calculate the filled area of an arbitrary shape - this has nothing to do with his writing or coding, it's very much to do with my brain and maths! Once I got my head around the workings it all made perfect sense. 

Brain hurts... :-)

Gavin Wraith talks readers through queues and objects in Lua, John Schild delivers an amusing tale about printer drivers, and then Mr Wraith pops up again with two tales about text. Chris Hall's hefty five and a half pages on the steady march of progress relating to data connections from your home is one that certainly informs and gets the reader to ask questions - the most immediate one being "Is that really progress?" 

Bimal Jangra delivers some good advice on keeping your Windows PC's up to date in PC Bits, whilst in Mac Matters, Mark Stephens delves into using RPCEmu on the Mac. We get a half page for letters and emails (and yes, I remember TopModel too!), before Rob Sprowson starts a new series on the topic of PIC's - Peripheral Interface Controllers. It looks like there will be four parts to this series and I am looking forward to seeing where this goes. 

Colin Piggot returns with another Acorn Retro, with news snippets and the like for BBC Micro and Electron users, before we finish the issue off with Kevin Corney's Lives and Loves of a RO fanatic, a lovely appreciation of one person's interaction with RISC OS. Add to that a couple of small hints and tips box outs and an advert for the Wakefield show this weekend on the back cover, and that's it for a packed final edition for this volume. 

I really do like Archive, it's never less than informative and entertaining, even if the subject matter taxes the brain (which is no bad thing at all), and it's great to see the updated magazine website in operation. As you can probably have guessed, I renewed my subscription at the end last year and look forward to seeing what the next volume brings. Check Archive Magazine's website out here, where you'll find all of the relevant details about subscribing. You can also follow the magazine on Twitter here. 

Archive Magazine - Volume 25.5 Review

Arriving fairly shortly after volume 25.4, 25.5 is the penultimate edition for the year and a bit of a news-packed issue, having been printed just before the London show which took place on the 30th of October. Also included in the magazine was an A5 flier to remind me my subscription was due to expire after the next issue (25.6) and listing the ways of renewing the subscription. So, what do we get for this issue?

The Newsdesk occupies its usual place, reporting on Cloverleaf's new Filer, the new Cloverleaf distro that was promised as part of their Kickstarter campaign, and the announcement of two RISC OS shows for 2022 - the Wakefield show (23rd April, which I am hoping to attend) and the RISC OS eXperience show (14th May) in the Netherlands. The Haunted Tower Hotel is the latest release from AMCOG Games, there is an extended edition of Acorn: A World in Pixels (already ordered that one) and a new WIMP programming book from Chris Dewhurst. There is more but you get the idea. And that doesn't include the actual London show announcements either!

The first article is a cracking piece by Jeroen Vermeulen on porting Python games into BBC Basic. Very much a "how to" and packed with detail and tips, this will be a boon for anyone with similar plans and you'd do well to have this six page resource to hand if that kind of project takes your fancy. Andy Marks reviews DeskWatcher, an application to remotely control one RISC OS desktop from another, highlighting features such as screen recording, file sharing, multiple connections and the like. It's a good review and is very honest about the benefits, limitations and foibles of the software.

Meet ArmBob is a great introduction to Bob, an interpreted language for object-orientated programming if that is your sort of thing. I found it interesting. "What? Me a programmer?" is a humourous look at an old utility being revisited by someone who is adamant they are not a programmer. Uh-huh :-)

Also included is a guide to updating NetSurf, adding a reset switch to a 4te desktop and a handy step by step process of getting Gmail to play nicely with Pluto and Hermes. The second part of the USB Audio series is as interesting as the first (as in highly) and there are three entries in the letters page. PC Bits focuses on the joy(!?) that is the Windows Blue Screen of Death and a quick comment as to why the author hasn't upgraded to Windows 11 yet, whilst Mac Matters add a note on sharing Mac screens on RISC OS and file mapping. Code Burp takes a look at image saturation, and Acorn Retro is its usual fun smorgasbord of 8-bit gaming wonder.

That is still not all in this issue, with a full page advert from Cloverleaf about their new RISC OS Distro and the now regular half-page from RISCOSbits with their London show offers on the FOURtress range of desktops. Speaking of which, the London show news...

What a show for announcements it was! Considering the size of the RISC OS market, it is extremely heartening to see about multiple pages given over to the show news. RISC OS Developments gets 4/5th of a page (web browser Iris, new TCP/IP stack for wider testing and Pinboard 2.0), RISCOSbits gets a full page (new LapDock option for single board computer users, Mini ITX board), R-Comp gets 3/4th of a page (Pi400 Plus kit, software updates for Messenger Pro and Fireworkz Pro) and finally RISC OS Open with a 2/5th of a page (updated DDE and new pdf version of the RISC OS 5 User Guide). It is really pleasing to see such a level of commercial activity.

Finally, the editor concludes his two-parter on the future of Archive, with a note on making the magazine more visually appealing and updating the website. Both initiatives are worthy and I look forward to seeing how they develop. 

What is clear from this issue of Archive is that there is a real sense pf positivity about the RISC OS user base and the magazine itself. There are promising developments ahoy and I would certainly like to see the magazine grow in size (and readership) if at all possible. I have no horse in the race between the different bindings and am happy to see the presentation evolve whichever way is chosen. As it stands, if you're a RISC OS user then Archive magazine remains an essential purchase and I will be certainly be renewing my subscription before volume 25.6 hits the doormat. That also reminds me, the Archive Archived DVD/USB Stick is due in early December. That's something I'll definitely be picking up.

You can find out more about this excellent magazine by visiting archivemag.co.uk. You can also follow the magazine on Twitter.

Archive Magazine - Volume 25.4 Review

It's been a while since Archive 25.3 landed and I was waiting with much anticipation for the next issue to arrive. Happily, it did so in the middle of last week so, having written little about my favourite non-mainstream OS for a while, thought it worth giving the latest issue a review.

Well packaged as usual, the first thing you notice is the rather lovely photograph of a sunset that occupies the cover alongside the contents page. As you can see from the image above, there is a lot in the latest issue which is well worth reading. The range and breadth of contributions really do make this a fantastic example of a user-generated publication and one that is great at informing, educating and entertaining the reader. Hmmm, that has a certain ring to it. 

The article on graphical coding with Python is well worth your time if you're getting to grips with this language in RISC OS, the introduction to UCDebug is a good intro into debugging tools, and the Bookmarks piece has links to three very interesting dev videos. Andy Marks (of RISCOSbits fame) demonstrates three different virtual desktop apps, USB audio gets an informative piece and there is even a small letters page. The regular sections are also up to their usual high standard.

However, there are a couple of articles I do want to comment on, as well as the future plans the editor has revealed. 

Firstly, the brace of hardware pieces. There's one on the TiX Duet from RISC OS Computers and then a comparison review between the FOURtress from RISCOSbits and the 4te from RISC OS Computers. It's especially heartening to see two budget machines in the RISC OS market that can cater for both new and existing users as well as a more bespoke machine that offers maximum flexibility. 

The Duet (you'll need to scroll down that page) is a truly niche machine, a combination of a Titanium board and the PC motherboard of your choice. You decide the spec and the price, but the end result is one that can provide a RISC OS and Windows system in one desktop. This is not a machine for everyone, but that it exists is a good thing. It offers flexibility and freedom, as well as a simple space saving solution for those who don't have acres for a computer set up. The piece on the Duet in Archive does a very good job of explaining how the system works and its benefits, as well as detailing the process of actually obtaining one. Very interesting and highly informative.

The comparison review between the FOURtress and the 4te was of equal, if not greater, interest to me as these computers occupy the lower end of the RISC OS hardware market. Short of building your own desktop using a Raspberry Pi and suitable case, these are two of the simplest and most straight forward ways of getting your hands on a RISC OS system. The piece includes a benchmarks table, price breakdowns, and pros and cons of each system. In a sense, neither is "better" than the other - they both meet the same market requirement but from different companies. I don't "need" a new RISC OS machine at the moment, though I do "want" one (damn my adult sensibilities!) and either machine would fit the bill. What was great to see were the screenshots of the supplied software, something that neither company seems to list on their websites. Knowing what ships with the machine could make it easier for potential buyers to decide upon a purchase. As it stands, either machine will get you started out of the box, though there are add-on packs for (various unlisted) commercial software and AMCOG games from RISCOSbits. The 4te website has a section set aside for software but that's currently empty. 

Kudos then for having the review piece for each machine. I do hope there will be a Pinebok (formerly known as Armbok) review because if the hardware is still available, I would like to see how it works as a RISC OS machine. Yep, still hankering after a portable RISC OS computer... 

Also of note in this issue are the thoughts and plans of Gavin, the editor. You'll find these starting on page 36 and I do like where he wants to take the magazine. The two points he discusses in this issue are the change in software used to produce the mag (although still keeping it RISC OS based) and a planned increase in size. He notes that he had three more articles that could have been included in this issue so wants to move away from the stapled format (which limits the page count to 56) and move to a bound format, thus permitting an increase in page count. This is great news and shows that even though RISC OS remains a relatively niche operating system, it still has a vibrant user base. Couple that with readily available hardware and "good-to-go" software bundles, and it feels to me that there is a great deal of life in RISC OS yet. There are two more ideas on the way, alongside a survey, to be announced in the next issue.

All in all, Archive remains a great magazine and one that any RISC OS user will benefit from reading. It's also extremely promising that improvements and expansion are planned. I know I will be re-subscribing when the time comes.

Check out the Archive magazine website here if you'd like to know more about this essential RISC OS-based publication. 

Amiga Forever 9 - the budget way of experiencing a home computing classic

Regular readers may have noted my opinion on the limited availability of hardware when it comes to retro computing. Spoiled possibly by the widespread use of Raspberry Pi's when it comes to RISC OS, trying to experience something like the Amiga takes a bit more cash. True, there are emulation options that run on the Pi, and there are several YouTube videos of the Raspberry Pi400 acting as a very capable desktop emulation Amiga if you so require. However, if even the relatively low cost Pi400 is out of reach or you just want to use your existing PC, there is another option: Amiga Forever 9.

Released by Cloanto, who hold the licence for the Classic Amiga OS, Amiga Forever 9 is a complete emulation solution using a combination of Win UAE and Fellow alongside official ROMS of Amiga's past. There are three versions of AF9: Value (€9.99), Plus (€29.99) and Premium (€49.99), and what you get varies with each package. The cheapest version will get you a download code for AF9 which includes the 1.3 ROM and some games (25+) and demos (25+). The Plus package includes additional ROMS (3.x), cross-platform support, the Amiga Explorer software, galleries and double the number of games/quadruple the number of demos. The Premium package adds a host of Amiga related videos and documentaries as well as a physical copy of the software on three DVD's. I selected the Premium pack and shortly after purchase, received an email with a download link and activation key. The physical disks took about a week to arrive.

A variety of systems are supplied, others can be downloaded.

Installation was pretty straight forward and quite quickly I was able to peruse the list of games and demos included in the package. You can, of course, add your own disc images if you have them, and you can convert these to the preferred RP9 format using the Toolbox feature in the package but the usual ADF files are no problem at all.

The list of included games and demos is quite the collection.

If you do get stuck then there is a ton of help documentation on the Amiga Forever website which covers pretty much everything you might need to know, and lots of things you'll probably never need to ask about but it's there anyway. 

Kick Off 2 in action.

The included games are a mixed bunch but did include a couple of strategy titles that I hankered after back in the day but could never find/afford when the opportunities arose. You also get Kick Off 2 which, if you are of a certain vintage, was the football (soccer) game to play back in the day. Well, before Sensi Soccer anyway... The demos are also a mixed bag, some are quite fun and they do show what the Amiga could do in the hands of talented coders. 

This was a cutting edge desktop in the late 1980's

With the available ROMS and software options, AF9 is a very good package indeed and, if you only want to dip back into say the Amiga 500 of 1990 vintage, then the Value package cannot be beaten. The Plus pack gives you ROMS galore, even for oddities like the never-released Walker concept machine, though that particular one is an additional download. This is probably the best all-round way of experiencing Amiga Forever 9, though if you want to see the Amiga-related videos and have a penchant for physical media, then the Premium is the only way forward. 

It improved by the late 1990's

What was interesting was loading up software and experiencing again the clicky, grinding disk noise. It's only for show but the sound alone took me back to the early 90's. It also made me realise that sometimes those rose tinted memories are just that! Was disk access always that bloody slow???

All told, whichever SKU you go for, you'll not be disappointed with Amiga Forever 9. It's relatively easy to navigate around and it is certainly feature packed. For the low sum of €9.99, this is an inexpensive emulator to try out and it's pretty straightforward to upgrade later. I'm certainly happy with the Premium package and it definitely ticks all of those retro boxes. You can check out Amiga Forever 9 here.

Back Once Again With A Second Kickstarter...

 ... asking for less cash, still with loadsa questions. (Apologies to Fatboy Slim).

Screenshot from Kickstarter.com

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again is the motto here and after the failure to reach a lofty €50,000 goal back in January, Stefan Frohling is back again with his second attempt at improving RISC OS. No longer called Cloverleaf, the new Kickstarter is now simply RISC OS and has a rather lower goal of €6,000. So what has changed since the first attempt?

At first perusal, lots!

There are a total of 20 rewards now, from your basic €1 pledge to the massive €1,000 tier that gets you... nothing. Nice if you have access to that sort of cash to throw around. In between, things have been arranged differently from last time, and this arrangement has caused more than a few questions to be asked about the campaign and whether or not this should actually be on Kickstarter.

The campaign rewards are as follows:

€1 - to show you care.

€19 - support enhancements to the RPCEmu emulator (but you don't actually receive anything). For the same amount of money, you can also pledge for a Cloverleaf RISC OS t-shirt.

€39 - offers you a download of the Cloverleaf RISC OS Pi distro or the Cloverleaf Distro for emulators. Whether this is good value or not, well, that's up to you, but since you can get free distro's of RISC OS from RISC OS Open here and RISC OS Direct here, that's a pretty penny to pay for an OS, the core of which is free. There are some extra's included with the Cloverleaf Distro and you will be supporting additional development, but as always, it's up to you what you consider worth your money. 

€49 - lots of different options, but basically this amount can be put to one of the following: WiFi driver development, Desktop Improvements, the ArtCube photo editor, 2D/3D GPU support, RISC OS Filer improvements or a driver for NVMe storage. That's quite a list. You can amend the pledge afterwards to support multiple goals in this (and other) tiers. Of note, the three options involving the ChatCube application have all been removed since the project launched - they had a combined development cost of about €5,000. However, pledging does not guarantee that particular tier will be developed. Depending on which tiers receive the most funding, if your pledged tier is not chosen for initial development, you will be asked to amend it to a tier that will be developed or you can request a refund. I feel this is just plain wrong - the pledge tiers are not a customer survey, they are there to be delivered if overall project funding is successful. As it stands, as of time of writing, only the GPU support has received a pledge so makes it a bit of a moot point, but still, this is NOT how Kickstarter campaigns should be used.

€55 - you can pledge for an SD card containing the Cloverleaf Distro for Pi-based hardware.

€69 - creation of a Programming IDE called CodeCube.

€85 - the Cloverleaf distro plus (containing additional software including !Fireworkz Pro, !Messenger Pro and more) on SD card.

€199 - the Cloverleaf distro with ArtCube, !Artworks and !Fireworkz Pro included. Not bad considering the current list price of the latest version of !Artworks is €190. The KS page does not state what version you are getting though and, more importantly, this is the re-selling of an existing package. Kickstarter guidelines prohibit re-selling. After all, it's meant to support creators. For the same amount, €199 you can also pledge for the RISC OS distro for the RK3399 chip which powers the Puma desktop. I'll get to that in a bit, as well as the Pinebook Pro that is referenced in the KS but isn't a pledge item.

€215 - the Cloverleaf distro with !Artworks etc on an SD card. 

€299 - the Kitten Pi desktop. This includes the Cloverleaf distro plus, one year of software support and a case that mirrors the already available 4te from R-Comp. In fact, that machine is about a tenner cheaper and comes supplied with a ton of included software. The Cloverleaf machine will also come with a t-shirt if that's your kind of thing. A note on re-selling. Whilst this is a Raspberry Pi 4 based machine (so re-reselling the Pi), you receive a computer Cloverleaf have assembled with the OS etc that will work out of the box. Fair enough, not directly re-selling there, I think.

€399 - the Puma desktop - running an RK3399 chipset. More powerful than the Kitten. In the last campaign, there was the option of a 14-inch laptop at this price point (the Pinebook Pro). Kickstarter decreed that just passing on the laptop with an OS added is re-selling, whereas putting a board into a case you have created/sourced is not. Hence no 14-inch laptop.

€1,000 - to show you really, really care and you get nothing for this. 

So what do I think?

Some of you may remember my initial enthusiasm for Cloverleaf when it was first announced. This became more guarded when the campaign launched and now, well, I'm not entirely convinced - though it must be said, more than happy to be proven wrong here. There are still questions to be answered...

Firstly, the name. Cloverleaf is still the name of the distro, but calling the campaign RISC OS is slightly disingenuous as this sounds like it is coming from the OS rights holders when in fact it is not. For people new to the OS, it would perhaps be confusing and they would be better off checking out the established websites such as RISCOSDev and RISC OS Open to name but two... 

Next up is the funding goal - €6,000 is a low target and if you read through the pledge options, you can see that the total estimated cost of development of the various features ranges from €63,000 to €104,000 (now that the ChatCube pledges have been removed). I can see why the target is low - to ensure funding is secured. The plan for spending the pledged funds is more open than before, detailing as it does what will happen after the campaign has closed and whether or not your pledge will be acted upon (refund or move funds to another goal), so that's more clear, but it's still opaque enough to raise queries. Why the scattershot approach to financing several improvements at the same time and using people's money to determine the primary development goals? Why not launch a Kickstarter for one or two goals (maybe one as a stretch) whilst offering hardware to entice existing users with the improvements and new users with a machine? I mean, that looks like the thinking behind the latest campaign but there are far too many options here. I feel that this is definitely a case of more is too much. Admitting that not all of the goals will be reached with this funding round might be open and honest, but in itself, it goes against the guidelines of Kickstarter - your project must be 100% deliverable using the achieved funding goal. That's the reason for the goal. With this campaign, it's very much "trust us, give us your money and we'll do something with it..." That, more than anything else, raises a red flag for me. If you want my money, you need to convince me that what I put my money towards will be delivered. That is not the case with the the €49 software tiers in this project. 

Then there are the risk levels. Each of the software goals has a timescale and a risk level, most of which are rated as no risk or low risk. Now, being just a humble software QA tester, far be it from me to question timescales in software development or risk factors, but I really would like to know how they are classifying risk and what their timescales are based on. From personal experience, if a developer tells me something is simple and has a low level of risk, that almost certainly means low flying faecal matter will intersect with a large spinny thing. I could be very wrong here, but my cynicism is strong with this one.

And those timescales. Interesting and intriguing. The Kitten Pi4 is just a Pi in a case with an SD card, so no real concerns there. However, my attention is drawn to the Puma. Estimated delivery is August/September. Estimated delivery of the RK3399 distro is November. Does that mean the Puma is an expensive doorstop for three months? Or will it ship with a Linux distro in the short-term?

I don't want to sound too harsh about Cloverleaf, as the goal of improving RISC OS is noble and if it can bring new users to the OS, the better it is for RISC OS as a whole. However, I am not sure a Kickstarter promising new, currently unsupported hardware and new software enhancements that have a suspiciously risk free timescale is the best way for a newbie to enter the world of RISC OS. I think a trip to one of the three existing hardware suppliers is probably your best bet. Still, what Cloverleaf are trying here is a different way of funding (compared to the existing bounty-led voluntary funding process) and you can see it's aimed at both the existing (software improvements) and potential (hardware) user base. Given that there have been some notable failures from successfully funded Kickstarter campaigns, I can't help but think that maybe Stefan should have started small (say the ArtCube program, Cloverleaf Pi Distro, Kitten Pi desktop for the main funding goal and then some software improvements as stretch goals?) and built upwards (another Kickstarter for the RK3399 distro and the Puma desktop, more software improvements as stretch goals?). By achieving smaller goals successfully, that would gain trust and respect from potential supporters as they would see a history of successful funding and, more importantly, delivery. Instead, we have a suspiciously low funding target (that at the time of posting had been met) and goal approach that looks as organised as a flock of spuggies. 

Maybe it's enthusiasm, maybe it's the pressing need of a timescale no-one apart from Stefan knows about, but surely it would be better to take small steps, build up a reputation and a customer base (whilst also creating revenue streams from the applications being created) and staying well within Kickstarter's guidelines? 

Anyhoo, that's my tuppence worth into the conversation. I'll certainly be keeping an eye on the project as it approaches it's closing date on June 16th and hey, you never know, this might be successful in both funding and execution. That's the joys of Kickstarter, it's your money you risk with every single pledge. You have to make your mind up if you believe that the project will be successful if funded. What I would say is that if this project does appeal to you, carefully read the Kickstarter pages first and then have a perusal in the Cloverleaf thread in the RISC OS Open forums. There has certainly been a great deal of debate, from both the original campaign and the new one, the latter of which starts on page 10 of the thread. 

Magazine Menagerie - Part Three - Amiga Addict

The third and final part of the Magazine Menagerie and we come to a review that I had said I wouldn't do. When reviewing the second issue of Amiga Addict, I'd said I wouldn't post another review of the magazine unless there was something to say. With my post on the latest issue of Amiga Future here, I decided that it would be worth adding a few comments about the latest Amiga Addict. If you're expecting a face off between the two, sorry, you're not going to get that. Spoiler alert: if you can afford to get both English print Amiga magazines, do it. They have different approaches and styles and, as I said yesterday, are great companion pieces.

The overview - another great issue. The new Across the Pond column was intriguing and should offer some good tales in future episodes. The Amiga Ireland 2021 report was interesting and gave rise to thoughts of attending next year (maybe, who knows, what with costs, travel and COVID). The first part of a series on the legacy of Commodore promises much and I hope it delivers in future instalments. There's an amusing tale of attending the World of Amiga show in 1994 and believe me, war games shows can be kinda similar, especially the Sunday ones after say 1.30pm... though we never leave kit behind. The second part of the Memories of Dave Needle was suitably funny and poignant, and the multi-page feature on the Amiga and the Jungle music scene was both eye opening and bewildering - it's not my favourite music genre by any means but it was an interesting read. Two pages are dedicated to AOZ Studio may be of interest from a developer's point of view, though I would check out the subscription costs before deciding anything - the free version contains adverts, the monthly sub is €9 and a two year license is €89 - not extravagant by any means but something to be wary of. The games reviews were varied (I remember playing Transarctica and, from vague recollections, think the review is spot on), and I particularly liked the review of Flink, a CD32 title that had previously escaped my attention. The interview with the designer/graphics artist was icing on the cake. Naturally, the regular sections were also worth reading.

I did get a huge dose of nostalgia reading about Games-X. Although short lived, it was a regular pick up from the post office/newsagents my mates and I passed on the way to school. After all, what else was dinner money for??? The magazine, as I recall, was a fun read and more akin to a comic than a traditional games magazine in its price and paper quality, though it was 30 years ago, so I could very well be wrong here. A good magazine at the time, and one that should be remembered for doing something a bit different. 

The highlight of this issue for me was the long awaited Unamiga review. After unforeseen postal delays, here was a take on a piece of hardware that I had no idea existed back when I did my Alternative Computing, but at what cost post a few months back. Basically, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) recreation board, the Unamiga can be one of several computers depending upon the "core" selected. From an Amiga point of view, it is equivalent to a Motorola 68020 with 2MB of Chip RAM and 20MB of Fast RAM - a pimped out A500/A2000 is you like. Other "cores" can include the Spectrum NEXT, the original Spectrum, the C64 and the MSX amongst others. This, for the princely sum of €152 (about £131) for the A500/Checkmate 1500 case compatible board. Sounds great, doesn't it? The review is gushing, which it has every right to be - I have seen enough on the Unamiga elsewhere to consider it a lovely piece of kit, though if you're not in possession of an A500 case or suitable peripherals (keyboard, monitor, case, power supply etc) then you're going to spend a tad more than €152. Still, cheaper than a Vampire and anything available or promised by A-Eon. Sadly, getting hold of one is likely to be be a probable as a lottery win, as these are produced in small batches on an as and when basis. After all, a hobbyist group in a niche market. Such is the way of things. 

Anyway, cracking work and more of the same for next issue please! You can order a copy (or subscribe) at the Amiga Addict website. As for me and my ideas of running the Amiga Classic OS, there's always Amiga Forever.

Magazine Menagerie - Part Two - Amiga Future

Welcome to the second of the trio of recently received publications. In today's post, I'll be looking at an Amiga magazine that's been going for absolutely yonks. Yes, now up to issue 149, this is the March/April 2021 edition of Amiga Future.

Published in both German and English editions, it is the latter that I paid about £7.90 (€7.00 for the magazine, €2.20 for postage, exchange rates decide the actual amount in GBP) for and it arrived bang on the date the pre-order email said it would. 

The magazine is in the A4 format and of high quality. It is 56-pages in length and in full colour. For an extra €2.90, you can also get a cover mounted CD that includes games, demos and utilities for the various flavours of operating systems classed as Amiga - AmigaOS 4, AROS, Classic and MorphOS. 

The layout is clean and straightforward, and there are plenty of advertisers - ten in fact, spread over 15 pages. The most stylish of these has to be the Vampire Accelerator add in the centre-fold. Images are sharp and, overall, I have no negatives to say about the physical quality of the magazine. 

As you can see from the contents page, there's quite a bit in here, with a news section, a couple of well thought out and interesting interviews, numerous reviews (including a piece on the latest update to AmigaOS 4 and two articles on hardware, one of which (the MiSTer) has been on my "would like/can't justify" list for a while now. There is also a two page piece from Trevor Dickinson which is a nice way to get updates from the main source of commercial hardware in the OS 4 market. 

There is a good mix of content here, and that makes this an accessible read for anyone new to the Amiga. Yes, you might get a bit tied up in some of the technical stuff but, on the whole, my passing familiarity with the current market was more than enough to get a lot out of this issue. Complete beginners shouldn't have much of a problem finding their feet either. In that sense, Amiga Future is very similar to Amiga Addict.

My personal favourites were the MiSTer review and attached interview, the comparison between the adventure game Dune and it's board game equivalent and Trevor's Soap Box. I did, however, read this issue from cover to cover and have had a bit of a gander at some of the advertisers websites, just to see what they offered. 

I enjoyed reading Amiga Future and if you can, give it a try. There is much to recommend here. Will I be subscribing? Possibly. There are six issues a year and a subscription for that works out at just over £46 including postage (excluding the cover disc) for the year. In the meantime, it is easy to decide whether or not to buy on a per issue basis as the publishers post details of every new issue on Amigaworld.net and on their website, so it makes it very easy to check if there is something of interest before you buy an issue. Indeed, Amiga Future is a great companion publication to Amiga Addict and I hope both continue to be successful. You can buy Amiga Future from this website here.