Latest news

Pico now even smaller

Posted by Steve Revill Mon, 06 Apr 2015 17:02:00 GMT

First introduced to celebrate 50 years of BASIC last May, Pico is a tiny cut down version of RISC OS which runs on the Raspberry Pi which boots straight to the interpreter prompt and can be used on ordinary FAT format media.

As it predated the model B+ and mark 2 hardware it has previously only been available in large SD card format for the original model B.

Now, all that instant boot-into-BASIC goodness has been shrunk down to micro SD card size and enhanced to work on the more recent versions of the Pi. You can order a copy through the store or bag a 10% discount when ordering a class pack for groups of 10 or more.

Users have been finding all kinds of ways to make use of this non desktop version for embedded control of anything from a robot
arm to central heating systems.

What are you using Pico for?

Posted in Press release, New product | 2 comments

Raspberry Pi release RC14

Posted by Steve Revill Sat, 28 Feb 2015 16:57:00 GMT

Last weekend, we released RC14 of RISC OS for the Raspberry Pi, RISC OS Pi. This will run on all models of the Raspberry Pi, including model A, A+, B, B+ and brand new model 2.

You can buy RISC OS Pi R14 from our store or you can download the image to burn onto an SD card here.

Posted in New product | 5 comments

2×Pi×r ... Pi 2 Release Available Now

Posted by Steve Revill Fri, 20 Feb 2015 19:17:00 GMT

Today marks the availability of the very latest beta release candidate for the popular Raspberry Pi educational platform. This ROM now includes support for the Mark 2 Model B Raspberry Pi hardware, using the newer BCM2836 system on chip and a total of 1GB of RAM. The model A, B, and B+ are still supported too.

Visitors to the South west show on Saturday 21st February 2015 can pick up a copy on either SD card or micro SD card.

If you can’t make the show, it can also be ordered online for the same low price as earlier releases. We’ll be making it available as a download in the next few days for users who are confident burning the image onto their existing cards.

With a lucky rabbit’s foot in our side pocket, this follow up to the earlier RC12 is in fact RC14 and includes the following headline changes in addition to the Mark 2 Model B support:

• The kernel now understands and can render sprites with alpha levels of transparency, and hence the desktop can use these facilities too.
• The kernel now supports a much wider array of pixel buffer formats for the screen including 4k and 64k.
• The USB driver, DWCDriver, now uses fast interrupts to handle some of the load from the USB peripheral. Previously normal interrupts might miss
  some key up or mouse click events when the system was busy.
• A new diversion, !Hopper is included which is a RISC OS version of the popular Frogger game.
• Ethernet uploads via the EtherUSB driver are now considerably quicker, typically factors of 10x to 20x depending on the protocol being used.

This new release will also be featured on a future update of NOOBS by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in due course.

Posted in New product, Press release | 2 comments

Essential guide to stylish development

Posted by Steve Revill Fri, 20 Feb 2015 18:45:00 GMT

Last published in July 1993, today RISC OS Open Limited are pleased to announce the immediate availability of a fully revised and updated Style Guide for RISC OS. This Guide is an essential part of the RISC OS developer’s collection. It describes the standards of ‘look and feel’ to which you should write a RISC OS application. The main aim of the Guide is to help all developers to give their applications a common and consistent look and feel so that users will be able to find their way around new programs easily and will be able to use applications together when appropriate. There is advice on how to implement this, and detailed descriptions of how to produce the icons you will need to use in your dialogue boxes and windows.

Extending to some 152 pages the guide includes the following major changes:

• Lifting of dated restrictions to applications such as memory, colours, and screen resolutions
• Requirement to use standard cut-and-paste, and preferably the drag-and-drop models for selection
• Full details of the facilities afforded by the Choices directory inside the Universal Boot sequence
• Guidance on how to handle Unicode, desktop themes, and alpha transparency
• Integration of the help and keyboard improvements introduced with the Iyonix
• Promotion of the Toolbox to effortlessly create Style Guide compliant applications
• Richer dialogue layouts through use of the Nested Window Manager

as well as numerous corrections, revised or improved drawings and screenshots.

Posted in New documentation, Press release | 7 comments