Being a RISC OS user is an odd experience. It’s normally baffling to non-believers why so many (mostly British) computer users persist with the eccentric beast. It’s easy to list reasons why no self-respecting geek would trouble with it: many old or under-developed applications, poor streaming media support, lack of compatibility with key standards and technologies, limited hardware support, and there are many more. For most, RISC OS is a thing of the past, a curio, a once-promising minority OS trampled on by the juggernauts of Windows, MacOS and Linux.For some of us, however, it has retained its charm. Long-time users stick with it through thick and thin, defying the passage of time and upstart concepts like multi-threading or transparent gadgets. Against all the odds, you can still buy copies from the publicity-averse RISC OS Ltd, although in true British style they’ve made their website as unfriendly and counter-intuitive as possible (don’t bother looking for recent version information or, heavens above, a secure ordering page). You can also get a slightly different flavour of RISC OS if you buy an Iyonix ARM-powered computer from Castle Technology. In a stroke of marketing genius, this version is developed independently and is unavailable for any other machine. Although the two types of RISC OS remain broadly compatible, both companies have decided that devoting time to public spats and legal arguments is preferable to actually developing the product. Which is a pity, because the basic OS is still a joy to use, and in some areas remains remarkably productive.
First off, there is the interface. Designed in an era before taskbars and context-sensitive menus appeared anywhere else, the RISC OS iconbar and pop-up menu system remains a pleasingly elegant way of launching applications and using them. The iconbar, in its day, was a fantastic innovation (see screenshot 1). Hardware such as drives and printers sits on the left, as God intended, and applications sit on the right. There’s no program menu (unless you use a third-party application), and no trays cluttered with utilities and performance-sapping processes. Applications don’t have menu bars attached to windows, but instead use the second mouse button to pop-up choices anywhere over a task’s windows or its program icon (see screenshot 2). Nicely, this allows a clean division between options for the application as a whole or the file currently being edited.
Simplicity and clarity is another draw. The OS was designed to work with very low-powered computers by today’s standards, and as a result flies along very nicely for non-intensive tasks. Deft use of a three-button mouse makes shifting windows around extremely quick and hassle-free. You can still edit window contents when they’re under other windows, which sounds like a minor thing but really makes life much more pleasant for everyone. Comparative lack of bells and whistles, a problem for some, is a positive boon for RISC OS fans. We don’t get asked to update our software every five minutes, or have virus checkers pop-up without being asked-to, or have talking paperclips emerge from the shadows when writing a letter. All of this is good. Really good.
On top of this, RISC OS still has some great applications which, for ease of use at least, often leave their bloated competitors on other machines far behind. Take ArtWorks, a lovely vector drawing programme maintained by the sainted Martin Wuerthner of MW Software. Speedy and clean in design, it nonetheless boasts a very respectable feature set and is being constantly updated. EasiWriter, a word processor, Ovation Pro, a DTP application, and Messenger, an email client, are similarly distinguished indigenous programs. In addition to home-grown stuff, a heroic band of developers led by Peter Naulls has made porting applications from Linux-like environments a great deal easier: although incomplete, the ubiquitous Firefox just about works on RISC OS, and will hopefully be integrated further in the months ahead. The Unix Porting Project lists dozens of applications on their website, most of which are recent additions to RISC OS.
It’s not all rosy, however. Web browsing, even with Firefox, can be a daunting challenge, and there’s little support for modern video standards or nice things like Flash. The hardware is a bit creaky as well: the fastest ARM-based machine is the Iyonix, clocked at a not-very-eye-watering 600MHz. Its diminutive rival, the distressingly badly-named A9home from Advantage6, weighs in at an even more modest 400MHz. RISC OS’s generally lightweight nature compensates for some of this, but activities like 3D modelling or heavyweight compilation aren’t much fun. Emulation, using commercial products like VirtualAcorn, provides access to faster PC hardware, but brings with it some of the disadvantages of sitting on top of Windows (see screenshot 3). Despite this, many developers have chosen this as a way of keeping hold of their beloved RISC OS while having access to the power and compatibility of Windows. Emulator solutions for MacOS and Linux may eventually emerge in due course.
So, all this being the case, why do I use RISC OS? Well, apart from a slight perverse enjoyment of using something different, lots of stuff really is easier and nicer than on other platforms. I briefly dumped the environment after its creator, Acorn Computer, folded in the late 90s. But I came back eventually, and will stick with it for as long as the party lasts. As for how long that is, who knows? RISC OS really ought not to be around any more. It’s appallingly marketed, has a tiny pool of developers, and those that are left are fighting amongst themselves. But I still like it. It makes me smile. And when was the last time Windows did that for you?
But I still like it. It makes me smile. And when was the last time Windows did that for you?
*sigh* I cannot remember. The last desktop I’ve used that made me smile was BeOS.
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Exactly my thoughts too: I used BeOS as my main OS for 2 years and then dropped it for Linux. But reading this article about RISC OS, made me feel just like when I was using BeOS and noone understood just why in the name of God I’m so stubborn to let it go.
As for the final phrase (“And when was the last time Windows did that for you?”), it made my day!
Great article!
The RISCOS zealots can also be a down side but every platform has them.
I keep coming back to RISCOS for all its faults because it is so-well designed for day-to-day usage. We just need a better web browser….
I gave up on RiscOS/RiscPC when I started photographing more actively. The RiscPC I owned back then just didn’t cut it. Photodesk was nice, but I think there is no support at all anymore. Let alone a decent RAW application.
But it was very nice indeed, I even preferred it to BeOS in some ways. now I’m a mac user, I sometimes look back to those days, and I’m happy there’ll be a decent RISCOS emulator for OSX, just to play around.
Sounds like some interesting GUI ideas. It seems a little strange at first to only have a right click menu, but it does make sense. Apple’s menus are touted for being easier to hit, being on a screen edge. Of course, the corners would be easier to hit than the edges, and there is one spot easier to hit than even those: wherever the cursor happens to be. Sounds like RiscOS did a good job harnessing that. (OT: the ease of hitting that spot always made me wonder why Macs did without a a right click enabled mouse by default for so long).
Seeing the features it had and why people clung/cling to it still, it almost seems cheap for the new Acorn to use that name.
I only used RISC OS for a while back in the early nineties, but I remember thinking it rocked (despite the odd-coloured keys!). I think the RISC OS desktop (“Pinboard”) is one of the easiest-to-use and best looking out there.
Alas, I’m too poor to buy an Iyonix (more precisely, to be able to run it on top of all the other electronic equipment in the house). Maybe someday we’ll get RPCemu working on Linux…
Isn’t rox an attempt to recreate the experience in linux?
http://rox.sourceforge.net/desktop/node/40
Edited 2006-09-11 08:44
Yeah, at least thats what their site says(i’ve never actually used RISC OS though graphically they look similar)
Like I said above, i’ve never used RISC OS however if its anything like ROX I can certenly understand why people would like it.
loved the article. full of sarcastic humour and a touch of sentimentality. also perfectly ended with the author’s candid explanation as to why he is so committed to the os despite it’s shortcomings. great article!
There are also many people who still use Windows ’95, despite Vista will be launched next year.
ROX certainly emulates some of the look and feel of RISC OS. It provides a highly usable file manager that’s very like the RISC OS filer, along with an iconbar that is superficially similar to the RISC OS feature. But in the same way that adding a Dock clone and Aqua themed window manager to Linux doesn’t turn it into Mac OS X, ROX doesn’t really come close to replicating the full RISC OS experience. If it did then people wouldn’t stick with the real thing.
A huge part of the RISC OS experience is the consistent design of its applications, the elegant way they use the menu system, and other RISC OS features like its pervasive drag and drop between apps. Of course any RISC OS like Linux DE will lack that when it’s running Linux apps that aren’t specifically designed for it.
When I was growing up (in the UK), I had an Amiga at home and used Acorn RISC OS machines at school. I have many fond memories of both of them; they were well-designed, easy to use and very fast, considering the hardware they were running on.
Like many others, I’ve now moved on to using Linux, but I do feel lots of nostalgia for those old systems. I’m glad there are still some people trying to bring them into the 21st century.
When I was growing up (in the UK), I had an Amiga at home and used Acorn RISC OS machines at school. I have many fond memories of both of them; they were well-designed, easy to use and very fast, considering the hardware they were running on.
Yep, those were the days. I can still remember the sheer horror at having to use Windows (3 point something, I would guess) for the first time after getting used to Acorns. I’d grown used to thinking myself computer savvy, what with being able to happily use Commodores, Acorns and such, and then being completely lost with Windows. Still, at least MS managed to partially catch up with Acorn’s usability: it’s almost mature enough now to be usable, though it’s poor attempts at organising a files system still mean it is way behind (and, yes, that is written tongue in cheek, at least partially).
Ya gotta admit though; “ADFS::0.$.Apps” is just plain ugly; something like “ADFS::0:Apps/” would be cleaner, surely?
It’s missing.
I wish I could read many more of this kind…
Thanks again for the nice read
– it’s outdated
– it has little applications
– there’s lack of hardware support
– the processor is too slow
– standards are not being followed
BUT it’s damn cool to use it, because it’s different.
BeOS was cool – it’s dead now (I’ll change my mind when Haiku runs on a sufficient number of mainboards). The PPC was so damn cool on Apple hardware – it’s dead now and won’t come back.
Forgive me, but I still cannot see any reason to use this OS except nostalgia.
Edited 2006-09-11 19:23
Rox desktop combines rox filer with several rox apps that emulate nicely riscos:
http://www.drobe.co.uk/alternative/artifact1622.html
The debian setup even have automounting of pluged in devices, which automagically appear on the iconbar. It’s also configured to create icon launchers for each apps that are installed in debian. This way, when you go into the Apps folder, you can launch firefox, as well as the othe Rox specific apps…
Has to have at least 3 buttons.
From left to right:
Select – Like other OSs
Menu – As in the screenshots
Adjust – Doea an “alternative” to Select
& like the others its the GUI that does it for me – not nostalgia!