We are pleased to be able to announce some "good news" for the RISC OS hardware scene - the new RISCube Home/Office retailing at just 499ukp INCLUSIVE OF VAT. For a long time, we've wanted to be able to offer the quality and expertise of our RISCube product line at a lower price point, but until recently, it simply hasn't been possible to reduce prices without sacrificing the quality components and service on which we have built the RISCube name. With supply of other RISC OS hardware drying up, we were keen to ensure that our new system offered similar performance, whilst giving users more flexibility and facilities (and a lower price tag!). As such, the RISCube Home/Office allows you to run your RISC OS software roughly 3 times faster than a StrongArm RiscPC (sometimes more). The RISCube Home/Office doesn't scrimp on hardware - your computer has a dual core processor (similar to our much more expensive machines!) for smooth running (RISC OS uses one of the processor cores, leaving the other free for anything else). We back that up with at least 1Gb (1024 Mb) of system RAM, a decent sized hard drive and CD/DVD drive, plus all the usual trimmings (eg. parallel port option, serial port, lots of USB2 ports). There are, of course, a couple of caveats... The new machine doesn't have a floppy drive, so if that's important to you, one of our higher end systems might be more appropriate. It does, of course, have high speed networking, so you can link it into your home network and share floppy discs with other machines, or use a USB floppy drive. Unlike our higher end systems, upgrade options are more limited - you can add a second hard drive, but not a gaming graphics card. The machine is a little noisier than our other 'cubes, which are near silent, as it uses a temperature-controlled fan, rather than the heat-pipe system used in more expensive 'cubes. The computer provides excellent graphical output via VGA or DVI digital connections for the highest quality of image, happily driving large screen displays. It is ideal for photo work, DTP, web browsing and so on. The key to the RISCube Home/Office is the amount of great stuff that is packed into the price. For what we believe to be the lowest priced RISC OS computer, you'll be able to run your favourite 26bit and 32bit RISC OS software, at high speed, using modern peripherals (any printer, for example, and all manner of USB devices). You'll also be able to browse the web in Firefox, whilst having compatibility with all the common Microsoft document formats (word files, excel files and so on). Things like Flash, Java and video won't be a problem either. You can be running RISC OS favourites like Impression, Artworks, DataPower and Messenger Pro, whilst not missing out on compatibility with the rest of the world. Your RISCube Home/Office is capable of running Windows-based software, as well as RISC OS, giving you enormous flexibility. As with all our range, we encourage the use of WindowsXP rather than the much maligned Vista. Of course, many users won't venture too far in that direction, as RISC OS will be their desktop of choice. The RISCube Home/Office is available now, and will be on display at the Guildford show. The system is available running Linux only (Ubuntu preferred, but other distributions available) starting at 299ukp! -- R-Comp 22 Robert Moffat, High Legh, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6PS Tel: 01925 755043 Fax: 01925 755043 http://www.rcomp.co.uk