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((Short description|Former computer software company in UK))
((About|the company|the operating system|RISC OS))
((More citations needed|date=August 2009))
((Infobox company
| name             = RISCOS Ltd.
| logo             = Riscos ltd logo.png
| logo_size        = 195px
| caption          = 
| type             = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| foundation       = [[Cardiff]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] (((Start date|1999|01|07)))
| founder          = Paul Middleton
| defunct = ((End date|2013|05|14))
| fate = Dissolved
| location_city    = [[Cardiff]]
| location_country = [[United Kingdom|UK]]
| area_served      = Worldwide
| key_people       = Paul Middleton, <small>[[Entrepreneur|Co-founder]] and [[Chief executive officer|Managing director]]</small>
| industry         = [[Computer software]]
| products         = [[RISC OS|RISC OS 4, RISC OS 6]]
| services         = [[Information technology consulting|IT consulting]]
| homepage         = ((URL|riscos.com)) (before 2013-03-04)
))
'''RISCOS Ltd.''' (also referred to as '''ROL''') was a [[Private company limited by guarantee|limited company]] engaged in [[computer software]] and [[IT consulting]]. It licensed the rights to continue the development of ((nowraplinks|[[RISC OS|RISC OS 4]])) and to distribute it for desktop machines (as an upgrade or for new machines) from [[Element 14 (company)|Element 14]]<ref>
((cite web
| url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/03/06/riscos_to_continue_os/
| title = RISCOS to continue OS 4 development
| accessdate = 2011-05-09
| last = Magee
| first = Mike
| date = 1999-03-06
| work = The Register
| publisher = [[The Register]]
| quote = According to RISCOS Limited, it has gained an exclusive licence from Element 14, formerly Acorn [...]
))
</ref><ref>((cite web|title=Chris's Acorns|url=http://acorn.chriswhy.co.uk/AfterAcorn/RISCOSLtd.html|accessdate=17 May 2013))</ref> and subsequently [[Pace Micro Technology]].<ref name="pcw clark 1999">((cite news | url=http://www.computeractive.co.uk/pcw/news/1926765/acorn-dies-legacy-lives | title=Acorn dies but legacy lives on | work=[[Personal Computer World]] | date=July 1, 1999 | accessdate=April 10, 2012 | author=Clark, Etelka | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130420003535/http://www.computeractive.co.uk/pcw/news/1926765/acorn-dies-legacy-lives | archivedate=April 20, 2013 ))</ref> Company founders include developers who formerly worked within Acorn's dealership network. It was established as a [[nonprofit company]].<ref name="pcw clark 1999" />  On or before 4 March 2013 [[3QD Developments]] acquired RISCOS Ltd's flavour of RISC OS.<ref name="iconbar-2013-03-07">((cite web | url=http://iconbar.co.uk/articles/3QD_Developments_acquire_RISC_OS_from_RISCOS_Ltd/index1279.html | title=3QD Developments acquire RISC OS from RISCOS Ltd | date=2013-03-07 | accessdate=2013-03-25 | author=Duffell, Andrew))</ref><ref>((cite web| url= http://www.riscos.com/contact_details/ | title = Contact Details - 4/3/2013 onwards | accessdate = 2013-03-06))</ref>  RISCOS Ltd was dissolved on 14 May 2013.<ref>((cite news | url= http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/824134/supplements/1255 | title= FIRST GAZETTE NOTICES | work= [[London Gazette]] | date=14 May 2013))</ref>

== History ==
RISCOS Ltd was formed to continue end-user-focused development of RISC OS after the de-listing of [[Acorn Computers]], following its purchase by [[Morgan Stanley Dean Witter]] in order to benefit from the shareholding that Acorn held in [[ARM Ltd]]. In March 1999, RISCOS Ltd obtained exclusive rights to develop and sell RISC OS 4 for the desktop market from Element 14. A few weeks later Pace purchased Acorn's Cambridge headquarters and staff for £200,000 and then continued to develop its own, in-house version of RISC OS, primarily for [[set-top box]]es and other embedded devices.

At the time of the company's formation, it was noted that having access to the source code could facilitate removal of the OS's dependence on Acorn's proprietary chips. This simplifies entry to the hardware market by new companies.<ref name="guardian computerwatch">((cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/1999/mar/11/onlinesupplement9 | title=Computerwatch | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=March 11, 1999 | accessdate=February 27, 2012 | author=Schofield, Jack | quote=Riscos Ltd has been formed to complete the development of Acorn's Risc OS 4 operating system [...] Paul Middleton, Riscos's managing director, reckons that, with access to the source code, it should be possible to remove the operating system's dependence on proprietary chips such as the IOMD and VIDC input/output and video chips in Acorn computers. This would make it easier for new companies to enter the hardware market. | author-link=Jack Schofield (journalist)))</ref>

On 29 January and 14 May 2013 RISCOS Ltd was listed in the [[London Gazette]]: on 14 May 2013 it was struck from the register of companies and dissolved.<ref>((cite news | url= http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/823984/supplements/1394 | title= FIRST GAZETTE NOTICES | work= [[London Gazette]] | date=29 January 2013))</ref> The rights to all versions of RISC OS previously developed and marketed by RISCOS Ltd were  purchased by 3QD Developments Ltd, the maker of [[VirtualAcorn]].<ref>((cite news | url= http://riscos.com/news/news_items/3qd_1.htm | title= 3QD Developments Ltd purchase rights from RISCOS Ltd | date=7 March 2013))</ref>

== Products ==

=== RISC OS 4 ===
[[File:RISC OS 4 logo.png|thumb|left|103px|alt=RISC OS 4 logo]]
RISCOS Ltd completed work on ''RISC OS 4'' and in July 1999 it was released as an upgrade for existing machines, priced at £120.<ref name="pcw outlive">((cite news | url=http://www.computeractive.co.uk/pcw/news/1920904/risc-os-outlives-acorn | title=RISC OS outlives Acorn | work=[[Personal Computer World]] | date=August 24, 1999 | accessdate=April 10, 2012 | author=Clark, Etelka))</ref> Improvements include support for long filenames, larger disk sizes and partitions, along with a new desktop look.<ref name="pcw outlive"/>

Work then continued on a system of soft-loaded updated versions of the OS, released under an annual subscription release scheme named ''RISC OS Select'' in 2002.
[[File:RISC OS 4.02 ROMs.jpg|thumb|((nowrap|RISC OS)) 4.02 ROMs]]
In 2004, the company replaced its baseline RISC OS 4.02 product with an updated version of the OS named ''RISC OS Adjust''. This version of RISC OS was based on version 4.39, or ''Select Edition 3 Issue 4'', of the company's Select scheme. In the same year, RISCOS Ltd agreed to produce a fully 32-bit-compatible version of RISC OS Adjust for [[Advantage Six]]'s [[A9home]] product. The A9home was released in May 2006 after a 12-month beta-testing process, although the build of Adjust 32, namely RISC OS 4.42, is not feature-complete.

=== RISC OS Six ===

In October 2006, a beta-version of RISC OS Six was made available for download by subscribers to the Select scheme.<ref>
((cite web
| url = http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1039769/risc-os-appears-couple-late
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091106005205/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1039769/risc-os-appears-couple-late
| url-status = unfit
| archive-date = November 6, 2009
| title = RISC OS six appears, only a couple of years late
| accessdate = 2011-06-02
| last = Proven
| first = Liam
| date = 2006-10-20
| work = The Inquirer
| publisher = [[The Inquirer]]
| quote = RISC OS Ltd announced its latest version of the Archimedes and Risc PC operating system: RISC OS Six.))
</ref> RISC OS Six represents the next generation of RISCOS Ltd's stream of the operating system. Significant [[Software portability|portability]], stability and internal structure improvements, including full 26/32-bit neutrality, have laid the foundations for the company's future releases, all of which will be based on version 6. The first product to be based on RISC OS Six will be ''Select Edition 4''. RISC OS Six is 32-bit-neutral and can be built to run in either 26-bit or 32-bit modes. It runs on the [[Risc PC]] and A9home, but it doesn't run on newer-generation hardware such as the [[Iyonix PC]] and [[ARMini]], which do not support the 26-bit addressing used on the older Acorn computers and require specific hardware support for the newer ARMv5 and ARMv7 architecture chips that they use.

=== Licensed emulation ===

In 2003, the company reached an agreement with [[VirtualAcorn]] to license its OS for use with [[emulator]]s.<ref>((cite web | url = http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact799.html | title = Virtual Licence | accessdate = 2011-06-27 | last = Naulls | first = Peter | date = 2003-09-02 | publisher = [[Drobe]] | quote = [...] RISCOS Ltd today announced it had reached an agreement with Virtual Acorn regarding licensing of RISC OS 4 for use with Virtual Acorn's emulators.))</ref>

=== Potential ports ===

In 1999, the company announced plans to port the OS to machines such as the [[Jornada (PDA)|Jornada]] [[sub-notebook]].<ref name="acornuser 1999xmas">((cite news | url=http://audio22.archive.org/details/Acorn_User_Issue_215_1999_IDG_Media_GB_christmas_edition | title=Internet portal launched | work=[[Acorn User]] | date=Christmas 1999 | accessdate=16 August 2013 | issue=215 | pages=6))</ref> A number of planned ports did not come to fruition.((citation needed|date=August 2013))

== Licence dispute ==

In November 2002 [[Castle Technology Ltd]] released a modified version of Pace's [[32-bit]] RISC OS as ''RISC OS 5'' for their [[Iyonix PC]], in apparent contravention of the licence agreement that RISCOS Ltd held with Element 14. In July 2003, Castle bought all technology rights to RISC OS from Pace in an attempt to legalise the situation. In January 2004, Castle also took over [[Tematic Ltd.]], the company formed by ex-Pace engineers when they were made redundant in March 2003. The result was a long-running and acrimonious dispute between RISCOS Ltd and Castle over licensing, which ultimately led to Castle claiming to terminate RISCOS Ltd's licence to develop, sell and sub-license RISC OS 4. RISCOS Ltd refuted all the claims made and challenged Castle to identify how and from whom they had acquired RISC OS 5.<ref>
((cite web
| url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/17/riscos_dispute/
| title = RISC OS rights rumble becomes war of words
| accessdate = 2011-05-09
| last = Smith
| first = Tony
| date = 2004-06-17
| work = The Register
| publisher = [[The Register]]))</ref> An end to the dispute was signalled when RISCOS Ltd and Castle agreed to work on attempting to merge their development streams and re-unify RISC OS, with Castle's engineers working on key system functionality and RISCOS Ltd on user-facing elements.<ref>
((cite web
| url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/19/risc_os_agreement/
| title = RISC OS rivals reach rapprochement
| accessdate = 2011-05-09
| last = Smith
| first = Tony
| date = 2004-07-19
| work = The Register
| publisher = [[The Register]]
| quote = However, on Wednesday, 14 July, sub-licensees, RISCOS shareholders, and directors from RISCOS and Castle met to thrash out a peaceful settlement.
))
</ref> One of the conditions was that RISCOS Ltd agreed to be renamed '''RISC OS Developments Ltd.''' ROL and Castle subsequently agreed to merge ((nowrap|RISC OS 4)) and ((nowrap|RISC OS 5)) together,<ref>((cite web | url = http://www.iconbar.com/pressreleases/?action=show_page&dir=castle&file=0409000000000000 | title = RISCOS Ltd and Castle Technology Ltd announce new co-operative Agreement on future RISC OS Development | accessdate = 2011-06-27 | last = Middleton | first = Paul |author2=Lillingston, Jack  | date = 2004-10-15 | publisher = [[Drobe]] | quote = The new licence ensures that both RISC OS 4 and RISC OS 5 will be merged together [...]))</ref> this merge nor the name change did happen before the dissolution of RISCOS Ltd.

RISCOS Ltd considered taking legal action in 2008 to prevent [[RISC OS Open]] from releasing a RiscPC compatible [[ROM image]].<ref>
((cite web
| url = http://www.osnews.com/story/20632/RISCOS_Ltd_Might_Take_Legal_Action_Against_RISC_OS_Open_Ltd
| title = RISCOS Ltd Might Take Legal Action Against RISC OS Open Ltd
| accessdate = 2011-05-09
| last = Holwerda
| first = Thom
| date = 2008-12-10
| work = OSnews
| publisher = [[OSNews]]
| quote = RISCOS Ltd might take legal action trying to prevent RISC OS Open Ltd from releasing a RiscPC compatible ROM from the RISC OS 5 shared source project.
))
</ref>

== References ==
((reflist))

((Acorn OS))
((RISC OS))

((DEFAULTSORT:Riscos))
[[Category:RISC OS]]
[[Category:Companies based in Cardiff]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1999]]

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