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| Available in | English |
|---|---|
| Owner | One Point Nought |
| Created by | Tim Fountain, Alasdair Bailey, Richard Goodwin [1] |
| URL | iconbar |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 2000 [2] |
| Current status | Online |
The Icon Bar (also referred to as TIB) is a computing and technology website with a focus on the RISC OS computer operating system.
The Icon Bar was founded in 2000 by Tim Fountain, Alasdair Bailey and Richard Goodwin. [1] [3] In 2004, co-founder Richard Goodwin was nominated for the Drobe awards for keeping the "popular forum" online. [4] It was further developed by the same people who developed Acorn Arcade , [5] the contents of which were incorporated in 2006. [2] At this time, it broadened its remit to also cover alternative platforms and new technologies, while still keeping abreast of the RISC OS scene. [6]
When Drobe closed as a news site in 2009, The Icon Bar was cited as a notable alternative [7] [8] and took over running the annual awards scheme for the RISC OS scene. [9] It has been selected for inclusion by editors in at least one web directory, [10]
The site features RISC OS articles, news, forums and other media. It also hosts a Media Watch page, where users can share any relevant items they spot in the media. [11]
The Risc PC is Acorn Computers's RISC OS/Acorn RISC Machine computer, launched on 15 April 1994, which superseded the Acorn Archimedes. The Acorn PC card and software allows PC compatible software to be run.
RISC OS is a computer operating system originally designed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England. First released in 1987, it was designed to run on the ARM chipset, which Acorn had designed concurrently for use in its new line of Archimedes personal computers. RISC OS takes its name from the reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture it supports.
The Iyonix PC was an Acorn-clone personal computer sold by Castle Technology and Iyonix Ltd between 2002 and 2008. According to news site Slashdot, it was the first personal computer to use Intel's XScale processor. It ran RISC OS 5.
NetSurf is an open-source web browser which uses its own layout engine. Its design goal is to be lightweight and portable. NetSurf provides features including tabbed browsing, bookmarks and page thumbnailing.
Castle Technology Limited, named after Framlingham Castle, was a British computer company based in Cambridge, England. It began as a producer of ARM computers and manufactured the Acorn-branded range of desktop computers that run RISC OS.
The A9home was a niche small-form-factor desktop computer running RISC OS Adjust32. It was officially unveiled at the 2005 Wakefield Show, and is the second commercial ARM-based RISC OS computer to run a 32-bit version of RISC OS. When the Iyonix PC was withdrawn from sale, the A9home remained the only hardware to be manufactured specifically for the RISC OS marketplace.
The Fourth Dimension (4D) was a major video game publisher for the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Acorn Archimedes and RiscPC between 1989 and 1998. Previously, The Fourth Dimension had been known as Impact Software, which specialised mainly in BBC Micro games. Some of 4D's staff had worked for Superior Software. Notable release included Cyber Chess, Stunt Racer 2000, Galactic Dan and Chocks Away.
Acorn Computers Ltd was a British computer company based in Nottingham, England in the United Kingdom between 2006 and 2009. It licensed, in early 2006, the dormant Acorn Computers trademark from French company Aristide & Co Antiquaire De Marques. This company sold IBM PC compatible computers and had no connection to ARM, a spin-off from the original Acorn Computers.
In computing, the icon bar is the name of the dock in Acorn's RISC OS operating system, and is fundamental to the OS. Its introduction in 1987 was a new concept in GUIs. It displays icons through which access is provided to all parts of the computer that a typical user will require, from physical devices and system utilities to running applications, and will usually be their starting point for interacting with the system once it has finished booting.
RISC OS Open Ltd. is a limited company engaged in computer software and IT consulting. It is managing the process of publishing the source code to RISC OS. Company founders include staff who formerly worked for Pace, the company which acquired RISC OS after Acorn's demise.
RISCOS Ltd. was a limited company engaged in computer software and IT consulting. It licensed the rights to continue the development of RISC OS 4 and to distribute it for desktop machines from Element 14 and subsequently Pace Micro Technology. Company founders include developers who formerly worked within Acorn's dealership network. It was established as a nonprofit company. On or before 4 March 2013 3QD Developments acquired RISCOS Ltd's flavour of RISC OS. RISCOS Ltd was dissolved on 14 May 2013.
Drobe was a computing news web site with a focus on the RISC OS operating system. Its archived material was retained online, curated by editor Chris Williams until late 2020.
Acorn Arcade is a computing resource website with a focus on the RISC OS operating system and its gaming scene. It has been recognised by Acorn User magazine and was an award winner at the Wakefield Acorn Computer Show.
RISC OS, the computer operating system developed by Acorn Computers for their ARM-based Acorn Archimedes range, was originally released in 1987 as Arthur 0.20, soon followed by Arthur 0.30, and Arthur 1.20. The next version, Arthur 2, became RISC OS 2 and was completed and made available in April 1989. RISC OS 3 was released with the very earliest version of the A5000 in 1991 and contained a series of new features. By 1996 RISC OS had been shipped on over 500,000 systems.
VirtualAcorn is the brand name of several commercial emulators of Acorn Computers computer hardware platforms.
Cyber Chess is a chess-playing computer program developed by William Tunstall-Pedoe. It was written for the Acorn Archimedes and published commercially by The Fourth Dimension.
In computing, Aemulor is an emulator of the earlier 26-bit addressing-mode ARM microprocessors. It runs on ARM processors under 32-bit addressing-mode versions of RISC OS. It was written by Adrian Lees and released in 2003. An enhanced version is available under the name Aemulor Pro.
Impression is a desktop publishing application for RISC OS systems. It was developed by Computer Concepts and initially made available in pre-release form during 1989, having been demonstrated in February 1989 at the Which? Computer Show and subsequently announced as being available from June 1989. The "completed" version was eventually delivered on 18th January 1990.
Oregano is a commercial web browser for RISC OS computers. Oregano is a derivative of a browser developed by Oregan Networks Ltd under the name Oregan Media Browser for consumer electronics devices, games consoles and IP Set Top Boxes.
Tim Fountain Founder member and designer of TIB [...] Richard Goodwin Along with Tim, Rich is a founder member of The Icon Bar [...]
The Icon Bar was started in 2000 as a spin-off to the (then popular) Acorn Arcade. [...] I think I only became properly involved with [The Icon Bar] sometime in 2006, when the Acorn Arcade content was merged in.
The Icon Bar [...] [s]tarted by the guys behind Acorn Arcade [...]
There are still a number of RISC OS related news sites, particularly notable iconbar.com [...]
[...] leading RISC OS news website - The Icon Bar [...]
For the past several years Drobe have run their yearly Drobe awards, in which members of the public nominate and vote for the RISC OS products and people who they believe have best served the platform over the course of the year. After a quick check with Drobe foreman Chris Williams to make sure he wasn't planning on running the awards this year, the staff at TIB decided it would be a good idea if we picked up the metaphorical torch and ran the awards ourselves.
Icon Bar - RISC OS portal featuring news, discussions, polls, reviews, tutorials, and downloads.
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