The following newsletter was sent out last weekend, but appears to have been blocked by some ISP's as being SPAM. If you have already received it then I'm sorry for sending it to you again. Lets hope this version gets through to you all. News from RISC OS Ltd June 26 1999 ===================== Dear Foundation member, Firstly, apologies for the lack of regular updates until now, but this will be the first brief news of the progress of RISCOS Ltd since the signing of the licence agreement to develop and market RISC OS 4. RISC OS 4 release ----------------- We are pleased to announce that RISC OS 4 has been frozen and will be prepared for shipment over the next few days. There will be a Press showing of RISC OS 4 on the 1st July and the first public viewing will be at the Acorn South East Show at the St Albans Arena on Saturday 3rd July. For further details of the show look at http://www.argonet.co.uk/acornshow First shipments of RISC OS 4 in limited quantities will begin on 1st July, with all current orders being fulfilled by the end of July. FlashROM -------- We have decided to ship RISC OS 4 in FlashROM as opposed to the traditional masked ROM packaging. Whilst more expensive to produce than masked ROM, the use of FlashROM will allow for easier future updates for RISC OS, as well as the ability to easily produce customised versions. This will mean that foreign language versions can be produced without the need for softloading foreign messages files. An immediate benefit to all users will be the option to have their individual details burnt into the ROM. For an extra £10 + VAT you may have up to 6 lines of 30 characters of information added to the RISC OS 4 ROM of your A7000/A7000+ or Risc PC. This could be name and address (useful for Insurance purposes as the information is impossible to erase from the computer), school details, ASCII art, or any other text message. If you have already ordered RISC OS 4 you can request the addition of your personal details to your order by sending an email to :- mailto:ro4orders@riscos.com with the text details. If you order was to be paid by Credit Card, then the extra cost will be charged to your card. If you paid by Cheque, then please send a further cheque for £11.75 to RISCOS Ltd, 3 Clarendon Road, Cardiff, CF23 9JD. NB That due to the time taken to program the FlashROM with RISC OS 4 we shall simply not be able to fulfill all current orders, on the 1st July, but we will endeavour to ship them out as fast as possible. Please allow up to 4 weeks to delivery, as the supply of some parts of the RISC OS 4 package is out of our immediate control. The RISC OS World Wallchart -------------------------- The details for the Wallchart are being processed in order to ensure that all companies and individuals who offer services to the RISC OS community are included on the Wallchart. As previously promised this Wallchart will be provided free of charge to the first 100 members who applied to join The Foundation. The normal retail price of the Wall chart will be £4.50 plus £1.50 postage and packing. (incl VAT) Estimated availability of the Wall chart will be late August. Membership cards ---------------- These have now been produced and will begin shipping on Monday. Please quote your membership number on all future correspondence and orders with The Foundation. Printed Newsletter and CD ------------------------- The extra work needed to deal with the PACE takeover of Acorn, has meant that the plans for The Foundation newsletter and CD have been delayed, but I should like to thank everyone who has joined The Foundation so far. Your support has been invaluable, and I hope that you will agree that the completion of RISC OS 4 was of greater priority than producing glossy newsletters. RISC OS 4 Features ------------------ If you haven't already checked them out. The full features of RISC OS 4 are available on our Website at http://www.riscos.com/risc_os_4/Features.html Enquiries --------- >From 5th July the RISC OS 4 Helpline will be available on 02920 492326 from 4.00 pm to 8.00 pm Monday - Saturday. Enquiries for the Foundation and General Sales 02920 492324 from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday - Saturday. Fax for all enquiries 02920 440071 regards