Here are my notes from the talks. Any mistakes or omissions are mine.
RISC OS Developments
Richard Brown was at his first show for 2 years and pleased to see everyone. He was talking here in his RISC OS Developments role. But firstly, he did briefly mention Orpheus, who will be offering VOIP soon as an option to customers.
RISC OS Developments have been very busy over the pandemic. They are always open to contact if you want any ideas for RISC OS (their numbers are on the website). They also talk to ROOL regularly (generally monthly).
Iris has a new October release (which is on Richard's stand). Focus now is UI and user experience. It can now work with other RISC OS applications. Right-click links will open in new tabs. Menu system has been expanded and dev tools (like element inspector and view source code). Images can be saved from browser and new link sub-menu. Private browsing windows are now supported. There is a password manager and autofill.
Not quite at a general release - target is general public release for sometime in 2022 (possibly Wakefield).
Revamp on TCP/IP stack (paid for by a commercial client) has been running in beta. Plan is to expand testing to anyone who is interested in testing. Contact Richard/Andrew if you would like to take part in the beta testing. There is an install and uninstall, so it can be easily removed from your machines (explained in the readme).
There is a new MBuff manger (which can be Open source), written in C. Updated drivers for new stack. New DHCP module. Still a little 'light' on documentation. UI will add profiles. Wifi will also be part of plans for the new stack.
There is a ticketing system for any bug reports, which is actually a RISC OS database running on a Pi.
Pinboard 2 development is ongoing and now at beta9. There is a new application call Watermark which works with it.
R-Comp
Andrew's talk was streamed remotely on Zoom. Hoping it will be possible to attend in person at Wakefield. This talk is focussed on R-Comp.
+1 add-on for Pi 4 and Pi400 allows for selection of different OS and also adds a real-time clock. 30 pounds with a case.
Fireworks Pro upgrade to 2.31 and also includes a new release of Webworkz (originally written by Paul Vigay). Stuart Swales has provided some help to Andrew Conroy for update.
Andrew did a nice demo of new Fireworks 2.30/2.31 features including the new table template. Andrew embedded an example table in another Application and then update the original. 2.31 adds much improved import/export including issues with creating large files. Update is free to 2.30 users.
Workworkz creates an HTML version of a Fireworks file (you can also export to PDF from Fireworkz). Styles are converted into CSS.
There is a new ITX design for the Pi4 compute module. Production is being impacted by the current global chip shortages. Pi4 has fast chip but slow disk access, which this card solves.
Messenger Pro also updated (and free to users of current version). Main improvement fixes lots of little zero page issues. Much faster on SD card based systems. Can be downloaded from !Store. Windows and Mac version also available on CD release.
4te systems demoed. Included 4te tools (lots of options to setup remote access, support old games, enhance screen display, etc). Available separate as PiTools. 4te includes large range of R-Comp software. Turbo drive speeds up loading compared to standard Pi. There are new colours as well for the boxes.
Pinebook has an update for improving performance on disk performance. RISC OS has also now been ported to the PineBook Pro (which offers a bigger screen, bette keyboard, faster system). Still work to be done on second USB and power management. Supply is being constrained by international chip supply issues.
ROOL
Slightly differently style this time. 15 years of RISC OS so in reflective mode. Asked Why come to this show?Why listen to this talk? Why use RISC OS? ROOL is run by volunteers in the spare time. Money for merchandise pays costs and bounties go to developers.
ROOL wants everything to be open, transparent and collaborative. Purpose of RISC OS is Safeguarding the past, present and future of RISC OS for everyone. One reason ROOL do not get involved in debates as wish to be neutral.
Recap of last 15 years. Key in move to Open Source. ROOL site is hub of community. Promoted 9 successful bounties (4 underway). Six 'stable' releases of RISC OS. NutPi / ePic commercial software bundles. Updated documentation. DDE vastly cheaper and vastly improved. Still support A7000+/RISC PC to Pi400
Looking ahead, ROOL has nightly builds on website, more stable releases, more bounties, GitLab, collaborations with other groups in community.
There is a new desktop theme coming soon (teasers on latest screenshots).
The User guide is free to download as of today and be redistributed.
The talk finished with a thank-you from ROOL for the last 15 years and looking forward to next 15 years.
