• 1988

Software Description

RISC iX was a Unix operating system designed to run on the Acorn Archimedes. Heavily based on 4.3BSD, it was initially completed in 1988 � a year after Arthur but prior to RISC OS.Features1. X11 (initially Release 2) with Ardent Window Manager, Tom's Window Manager and Ultrix Window Manager available by default2. System V virtual memory extensions, compatible with the "System V Interface Definition"3. C Compiler with ANSI C and pcc (Berkeley) compatibility4. Sun Network File System version 3.25. ARM AssemblerLater versions upgraded the X11 server to release 4, and was certified to conform to the X/Open Portability Guide 3 Base profile.The native file system implemented a transparent executable file compression mechanism that took advantage of the hardware's 32kB page size and sparse files. Additionally, the console featured a two-cursor text copying mechanism inspired by Acorn's own earlier 8-bit range including the BBC Micro.