Paolo Fabio Zaino was the guest speaker at the July meeting of Rougol. There was a good turnout with nearly 40 people online and in the pub (despite the record breaking temperatures in the UK).
 
Paolo started by introducing himself - he has sent 26 years writing software. Always a RISC OS fan and when it was Open Sourced in 2018, he was keen to get more involved. With experience writing for other desktops, he felt that the desktop could benefit from some enhancements. In particular, it lacks some bits in more modern desktops including a Launcher and a shortcut manager.
 
To help, Paolo has created a project on GitHub to co-ordinate efforts. No competition to ROOL or ROD. Aim is to have fun and share knowledge!
 
Desktop modernisation Engine is a project to collect all the 'pieces' together. Consists of a !DeskRes (!Boot.Resources) and !DeskCfg (!Boot.Choices). Runs on all versions of RISC OS. Can be released as parts ready. Can be added to RISC OS or kept as installation via PackMan - licence compatible with RISC OS (if ROOL / ROD want to include ) and all software free.
 
Extends concept of theme beyond Windows Gadgets to a complete Desktop style, building on top of previous work done by Richard Goodwin, Yellow Dog and ROOL.
 
Now onto some cool demos....
 
Great modern looking flat icon theme. Paolo also has a Dark Mode in development.
 
Fan of how PackMan handles dependencies.
 
Launchpad is written in BBC BASIC and will even run on an A3010! It is very fast in use. It picks up all programs in Apps folder and replaces Apps icon on Icon Bar. You can just type into search window and results are displayed in real time. Categories can be used as tags to filter as well.
 
There is also a favourites and Recents view and a Show in Filer option.
 
You can also have directories and items from shared drives (until traditional Apps).
 
A planned enhancement will allow Macros to be stored in a later version. 
 
The Launcher also includes an option to search the Internet, Store and Packman.
 
Launch option can run and open a new window in an Application or just load onto Icon Bar.
 
Launchpad also allows access to Modules which can be loaded with single click.
 
Launchpad comes with the options to add extras (such as file closing and saving CMOS). It can also run full screen.
 
Launchpad is designed as a Framework so it can be used by other Applications.
 
Aim is to launch first release for August via riscoscommunity.org and installed via Packman.
 
If you would like to help, Paolo is keen to get any volunteers to help and that will speed things up.
 
In summary, Launchpad is a really exciting development for RISC OS and Paolo has done an amazing job. 
 
Full Details of Rougol meetings on ROUGOL website