---

Coming soon...

Aaron with some details of what's coming along in the next volume of RISCWorld.

Well, there we have it, another action packed volume of RISCWorld disappears into back issue heaven. So what fun and games do we have planned for the next 12 months? Well I normally only work a couple of issues ahead (I thought it was a couple of issues behind - HJ) so as one issue is being edited, articles are being commissioned for the following issue, and the contents are being worked out for the issue in front of that. As the "listening magazine"* we have taken note of what our readers want and will be attempting to make a few changes over the next few issues. After suggestions from a number of readers the following represent the most common requests in no particular order.

1. More Iyonix coverage.
2. Publish more full commercial software.
3. Publish commercial software not owned by APDL.
4. Mark which software is Iyonix compatible.
5. Feature more reviews.

So starting from the top:

1. More Iyonix coverage: I have commissioned a number of Iyonix articles over the last 18 months, and roughly bugger all of them have ever been delivered. Anyway I think we have now found the man to write a regular Iyonix column, and you will find his very first column in this issue!

2. More commercial software: RISCWorld publishes one or more items of full commercial software with each issue, plus we have software specially written for the magazine. We are going to try and include some "bigger" applications over the next year, readers will just have to wait to see what we have planned.

3. More software not owned by APDL: Ah, yes, as everyone knows RISCWorld is published by APDL, so we therefore have access to the massive APDL back catalogue. As far as I am aware APDL now own the rights to more RISC OS software titles than anyone else, but there are a few little holes that aren't covered. We have therefore been wandering around the RISC OS community seeing what else we can give away. Some deals are still to be finalised, but I can say that readers can look forward to both WebFX3D and SiteWriter (both from DanSoft) appearing on RISCWorld CDs over the next 12 months.

4. Marking software that is Iyonix compatible: I think this might be slightly contentious. Firstly, an Iyonix armed with a copy of Aemulor can run just about anything. Secondly, new PD software releases are 99% Iyonix compatible. However I have taken the comment on board and we will see what we can do to make it a bit clearer for those that have an Iyonix but don't have Aemulor.

5. More reviews: I agree with our readers, I would like to see more reviews. However in order for this to happen we need two things; firstly things to review, and secondly someone to write the reviews. We hope to be recruiting more authors, indeed you may well notice a couple of new names in this issue. Finding things to review can also present a problem; if we don't review things connected with either myself or APDL that doesn't leave all that much. The original RISCWorld policy was that the magazine wouldn't review APDL products or products APDL was connected to. We simply can't maintain this position, so if we do want to review an APDL product we have to get an completely independent third party with no financial connection to the product concerned to write the review. Kicking off next issue will hopefully contain an extensive review of the new 32bit version of ProArtisan24.

What do our authors want?

I put the question "what do you want to see over the next 12 months?" to our authors to see what they wanted. What I should have asked was "what do you want to see in RISCWorld", so it's my own fault that I got back a big list of "must haves" that they think should be made available in the next 12 months. In order of popularity they were...

1. A version of Select for the Iyonix.
2. The new ROM based version of Select for current machines.
3. A web browser that supports more up to date features.
4. RealAudio for RISC OS.
5. Release of Impression X.
6. An Iyonix II.
7. GimpPrint made available to all.
8. XScale powered Omega.
9. ...and lastly....pay the editor more. (this only got one vote)

So will any of these happen? Who knows, but if they do you will be able to read about them first on Drobe. If, on the other hand, you want a nice shiny copy of RISCWorld delivered to your door every couple of months now is the time to make sure your RISC Wold subscription is up to date. Look at the envelope this copy came in and you will see the number off issues remaining printed on the label. If this is your last issue then you should have received a subscription renewal form along with your CD. Don't forget to send it off!

Finally.

One last thing before I go for a lie down, regrettably the subscription price for RISCWorld has had to rise slightly. This is due to circumstances beyond our control. I mean, have you seen what's happened to the price of cigars and caviar recently?

Actually there is something else that costs money, and that is making RISCWorld bigger. Over the last few issues we have tried to increase the size of the magazine. Our logic was something like this, we could increase the subscription cost on the promise of bigger issues, or we could increase the size of the issues first to demonstrate the commitment we all have to RISCWorld. As you can see we went for the second option. We want to ensure that RISCWorld carries on improving, and that we can continue to deliver good commercial software, not always from APDL, with each issue.

As we make the magazine bigger (and better) we pay more money for software and spend more money on writers. We think this is a good thing, and we are sure that our readers will agree. The vast majority of the money you pay for your subscription gets fed back to RISC OS enthusiasts and companies, (and this doesn't mean APDL).

However, it does mean we're spending more, and we want to continue to do so. Therefore to ensure that we can not only keep up the present standard but make RISCWorld even better we are going to have to put up the subscription rates from this issue to £21.90 for UK readers and £24.50 overseas.

We hope you will agree with us that this is quite a small amount to pay, only £3.65 per issue for UK readers, to ensure that RISCWorld can carry on getting bigger and better. So send you renewal form off now, were already spending your money on your magazine.

Aaron