The Next Generation Operating System

RISC OS 4 is the latest generation of the multi-award winning Acorn desktop computer operating system. Now being developed and marketed by RISCOS Ltd it offers the best in power and productivity for RiscPC and A7000 users worldwide. Its potent blend of performance, reliability and features make it the operating system of choice for the desktop.

RISC OS 4 requires a Risc PC, A7000 or A7000+ machine with a minimum of 4Mb RAM (8 advisable) and a hard disc. A VGA colour monitor is regarded as the standard display, although output to TV resolution displays is also possible. A CD ROM drive is also recommended, as much software is supplied on the accompanying CD.

Performance Enhancements

Unlike many other operating system upgrades, RISC OS 4 is genuinely faster on existing Risc PC and A7000 computers, and does not require a processor upgrade to support the new features. Benchmarks show:

New Disc format brings new features, improved performance and more disc space

RISC OS 4 introduces a new disc format (F+) which supports discs of up to 256 Gb in size, with long filenames - up to 1023 characters (200 in the desktop) and an almost unlimited number of files per directory. By decreasing the amount of space that the smallest files take up on your disc, you can expect to see between 25% and 40% more free space, whilst with internal file and map cacheing important disc-based tasks will go faster too!

New look and feel for the whole OS

The whole look and feel of RISCOS 4 is more attractive making the product easier to use than ever before, featuring new icons and graphics, plus a new 3D look and feel for dialogue boxes, the iconbar and menus. New fades and window backgrounds give the desktop a much more stylish look. 24bit colour in icons is also now possible.

Easier/faster configuration and !Boot

RISC OS 4 includes a completely redesigned configuration system which makes adjusting your system simplicity itself. By minimizing the number of configuration files, your system will boot faster, and the new faster boot system will ensure that your machine is always bootable and ready to go.

New/Improved bundled applications and utilities

RISC OS 4 includes several new applications and tools, and brings old favourites up to date, especially a comprehensive new word processor, and easy loading and saving of many types of images. !Printers has been updated and includes additional printer definitions for standard usage, PhotoReal drivers will continue to be supplied by 3rd parties.

RISC OS 4 is 99.9% Millennium compliant when run on any existing ARM based Acorn machines.

E&OE