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News

The latest news to land on the RISCWorld editorial desk...

RISC OS Video Mag

Dave Bradforth is pleased to announce that the first vidiMag will be published on 1st October; and is available to order now. The vidiMag is a complete video-based introduction to RISC OS Adjust. It walks you through different aspects of the operating system, identifying the icons on the desktop how to use them; how to configure the operating system and much more besides. Subjects to be covered include:

• Getting started (finding your way around the desktop, what the icons are how to load/run software)
• Configuring your system setup
• Using software running with RISC OS. Identifying the key aspects of the user interface
• Getting online help
• Using the Internet on RISC OS
• Use the new versions of !Draw and !Paint
• and a whole lot more.

This is expected to cover the majority of the basics, so that a new user to RISC OS would be able to find their way around with relative ease. The final product is to be supplied on CD-ROM for either PC or Mac users; or in a suitable format for playing on a DVD player (think in the same sense as the ArtWorks tutorial published by Pineapple Software some years ago on video). Please be sure to order the correct version - while the PC and Mac versions are both built using the same technology, it's unlikely that the two will be on one disc.

All who pre-order will be given access to one video a week while we work on the interface for the vidiMag system. This is just the start for the vidiMag concept - we'll be using the video tutorials in other markets, but we thought we'd start with the market we appreciate the most first.

Pricing and Availability

The usual price will be £14.99. Until 10th October, there will be an introductory price of £12 - purchasers of the original First Steps with RISC OS book will have the price discounted further to £7.50 if they supply the front cover with their order. Carriage is extra, at £1 UK, £1.50 EU or £2

As usual, orders can be made via the MoreToRead store. RISC OS users can do so through Firefox 2. We'll make available alternative means to order online shortly - but we'll also accept orders via post. Please make sure to state when paying which CD-ROM set your require (PC, Mac or DVD).

ABI module fix for Select4/RISC OS 6/A9Home

Martin Wuerthner has been busy looking at a problem with various Computer Concepts products on RISC OS 6 and has tracked the problem down to the ABIMod used by some software titles. This bug-fixed version of the ABI module used by Impression and ArtWorks 1.x avoids a crash that occurred with previous versions of this module when pressing Return in a dialogue box with a default button (e.g., the Save box in Impression or ArtWorks 1.x) when running under any Select4 variant of RISC OS (RISC OS 4.42 on the A9Home or RISC OS 6.06 or higher on other platforms). It should be installed by every Impression and ArtWorks 1.x user using Select4.

ABIMod version 2.88 also allows the WordWorks thesaurus that came with Impression to run on Select4 variants of RISC OS (i.e. all versions mentioned above) - with older versions of ABIMod WordWorks suffered from a crash during startup that prevented it from running.

The new version is included in the news section of the Software directory.

Jan Vibe Software finds a home on Drobe

As part of an interview with Drobe, BASIC graphics master Jan Vibe has pulled together all of his Star Info contributions plus a few other interesting bits and pieces to form a new archive - now available as freeware for download from drobe.co.uk.

Jan is best known for his regular and colourful contributions to Acorn User magazine's Star Info section, which would appear on the cover disc and as program listings in the magazine's Yellow Pages. Nearly 25 years after he sent in his first contribution, Jan reveals what inspired him to create so many graphical effects and what he's up to these days.

To read the interview visit:

The programs can be found in the news section of the Software directory.

RISCWorld