It’s all very well reading about RISC OS and getting your hands on software to run on it – but don’t you need something to run it on?
Of course you do!
You might be an existing user, looking to upgrade your hardware to something new – or you may be exploring the world of RISC OS, and considering your first system to run it. In either case, there’s something for you at the RISC OS North show on 29th March – which is so close now you can almost reach out and touch it.
So who will be trying to sell hardware to you?
Firstly,R-Comp. The company has an extensive range of systems to their name, with more recent offerings including Project N.Ex.T, 4té2, mini.pi, the multi-headed Hydra, and many more.
For RISC OS North, R-Comp will be showing off a Raspberry Pi 5 add-on to the Hydra and N.Ex.T systems. RISC OS itself doesn’t run on the Pi 5 (which sports a 64-bit CPU), but these machines are primarily RISC OS, and allow additional devices to run other operating systems, in this case Linux.
Secondly, RISCOSbits. Specialising in stylish case designs and with a penchant for snappy (and sometimes risque) names, the RISCOSbits has a range of prebuilt systems, and kits that allow you to put your own together.
Amongst other things, RISCOSbits will be showing off an add-on for some of their systems, based around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, which runs Linux.
Check out Elesar as well, to find out more about Titanium, the ARM-based motherboard, designed in-house specifically to run RISC OS.
As well as computers themselves, other types of hardware on the day as well. Check out Elesar’s keyboards before you leave their stand, for example, and then pop over to Drag ‘n Drop to find out about graphics tablets. Also speak to Chris Hall about some of his hardware projects, and Andrew Conroy about his.