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Jeremy Brayshaw

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More options 9 Mar 2007, 08:49

Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn.apps

From: Jeremy Brayshaw <jer...@brayshaw.org.uk>

Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 08:49:08 GMT

Local: Fri 9 Mar 2007 08:49

Subject: Re: Latest news from VirtualAcorn

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In message <4ec0903b47garyn...@locock.co.uk>
Gary Locock wrote:

> Jeremy Brayshaw wrote:

>> So, to my mind, both Aaron and Paul (VA and OPro) are missing huge
>> opportunities with their work by ignoring MacOS, and our loved RISC OS
>> suffers for it.

> (Paul??)

Oops, sorry - meant to say 'David' there.

> VA isn't /ignoring/ Mac OS AFAIK; they bring a demonstrator version of VA on
> Mac OS to most shows these days (though like you, I am impatient for the
> finished product).

But so much RO software has been promised and never actually
materialises - Oregano3, Cino, Cineroma, etc. It's understandable, but
very frustrating. I'm wondering if VA for Mac is also in this category
- we've had tantalising tasters of each of these, inc. VA, but the
'track record' suggests we'll never see any of them completed.

I was publicly pilloried for daring to suggest, two years ago, that
Cineroma would never appear. It hasn't. Will the same be true of VA
for MacOS? VA on Mac may be regularly publicly demonstrated, but so
was Oregano3 and that never became available.

I'm sure there are very good reasons for such software not appearing -
I'm not arguing that point - but we can't ignore the fact that it is
/not/ available, no matter how valid the reason.

> There is a downside of course, for RO developers. Mac OS X is really rather
> good, especially where RO is weakest, on the internet. Two first-rate free
> browsers, and no virus worries. Don't want to encourage desertion, do we--?

Well, if RO is lacking in important areas, and no developer can
justify correcting that, it would be silly to continue to do without
those facilities when they do exist on other systems. Nose, spite and
face come to mind! If people switch to Mac, then they're lost to RO.
But if VA on Mac appears sooner rather than later, those 'deserters'
may just stick with RO, at least in part. If it appears 'later', I
suspect those same people will have found other ways to achieve what
they want on MacOS and won't go back to RO.

All just my opinion, of course.

Jeremy.

--
Jeremy Brayshaw <><

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