Having fitted the new RISC OS to my Arc I find that the RISC User Volume 1 Special Disc does not function. Can you please advise me?
E.Swift
Other readers have written similarly regarding the monthly magazine disc. The essential requirement is that SpriteSize must be set to 16K or the menu will not appear. If the disc is run or booted from a mode 12 Desktop, the default ScreenSize of 80K will be adequate, but some programs on the disc may need ScreenSize to be set to 160K. This will normally be indicated in the accompanying text display. A further point to watch out for is the SpriteUtils module being unplugged. See this month's Hints and Tips for more details.
The main change I would personally like to see (in RISC User) would be a series of articles for people who are not complete novices, but have not had a deep grounding in earlier Acorn computers. The articles in RISC User are either too simple (like the June feature Into the Arc), or assume the reader knows all the technical terms that go with the Archimedes. Please can we have something at an intermediate level.
M.J.Parnell
My sincerest thanks for the introduction of Into the Arc. It is wonderful to get some down to earth information written in an understandable language. I can't wait for the next instalment. I must confess 60% of the content of previous issues has gone over my head. However, the last June issue has begun to restore my interest again. I was forming the opinion that the Arc was just too good for me, a sentiment no doubt suffered by many other floundering owners. Congratulations - such basically simple advice is most welcome.
Laura Blackburn
A good many readers who responded to our reader survey also sent sometimes lengthy letters with additional ideas and suggestions. In terms of the contents of recent issues, there were some clear trends as far as likes and dislikes are concerned, and not always expected. For example, the most popular item (in terms of the number of times it was referenced) was also one of the least liked. It is unlikely that any magazine can publish a range of articles which are equally liked by all readers. We try to provide variety, at a range of levels, but as the Archimedes market grows up, and with the advent of the A3000, it seems likely that we must take the interests of first time Acorn users more carefully into consideration.
The review of ArcEdit in RISC User Volume 2 Issue 5 identified the difficulty of marking or selecting a block of text larger than the screen by highlighting, because the window does not scroll when the pointer is moved outside it.
There is a way of achieving the desired result, by marking the start of the required block by double clicking on Select, and then moving to the end of the block and clicking on Adjust. The entire block is then marked. Adjust can also be used to de-select excess spaces included when a word is marked by double clicking Select.
Nigel Jennings
Mr.Jennings was not alone in identifying this solution. Mr.Gallagher adds that a marked block can be directly moved or copied between files in their separate windows without the use of an intermediate file. Other readers have also requested that we devote some magazine space to the other two RISC OS applications supplied by Acorn - Paint and Draw.
One disappointment with RISC OS is the amount of RAM available under the PC Emulator. Previously, on my 310, I was able to obtain 606K by typing *PC.PC with version 1.2 of the emulator. However, executing the PC emulator from the new Desktop icon only releases 532K of RAM, while executing *PC.PC only manages 409K RAM. Is there anyway of increasing the workspace?
J.Gallagher
The !PC application contains a configuration file which can be edited (with Edit) to free more memory. The file contains full details.