RISC OS software review
 

 
MoreDesk is an ingenious piece of software that gives you a vastly greater amount of screen area across which to lay your desktop. I've been using it for two months on my Iyonix and StrongARM RiscPC. It does what it's designed to do in a robust, reliable and professional manner. I want to spread the word about what this excellent product does, and how useful it is proving to be.
 

 
A reason I continue to use RISC OS is the ease with which several applications can be open at the same time on the desktop and files effortlessly passed from each to the others. With so much happening, a typical 1280 by 1024 pixel screen can feel cramped.
 
MoreDesk gives you multiple extra desktop screens, each the size of one you've already got. It also provides slick ways of hopping from one to any other, and of keeping track of what is where. I found that even just doubling my work area with one additonal screen increased my productivity significantly. MoreDesk allows up to fifteen extra desktop screens. I wanted a bigger desktop; 7^th Software gave me the Euclidean plane.
 
Owning MoreDesk means having the space to lay out projects properly. For example, MoreDesk made it easy to visually manipulate the large number of files associated with this issue's front page Gogo animation.
 
In the image below, the various photographs are being placed on the right hand screen as I adjusted their size and colour depth. I took this double-screen shot as I started to decide upon the order in which I'd display the ten photos in my animation. WebWonder is in use on the left hand screen. It contains the RISCOScode front page and is ready to receive a trial animation.
 

 
Below is a second illustration, again showing MoreDesk in serious use. On the left hand screen WebWonder is being used to set up a complicated 'Yellow Pages' article. The raw html code is being checked, in Zap, on the right hand screen. Four directory windows straddle both screens, making it simple to pass files to either desktop, as required.
 

 
Learning to use MoreDesk is effortless. To get started, select 'Choices...' from the MoreDesk iconbar menu. From the resulting window specify the number of desktops you'd like. Then, each time you want to switch to a different desktop, right click on the iconbar's MoreDesk icon. Click on the appropriate square of the resulting grid.
 
Don't you just love software you can use within 60 seconds of receipt ? 
 
MoreDesk is clever software. It's the best implementation of the 'multiple desktop' idea to date. It radiates quality and seamlessly extends the operating system's functionality. Steve Revill, who wrote MoreDesk, is charging £15. I sense a "value for money" award heading his way.
 
A big point in MoreDesk's favour, worth emphasising, is it does not crash. Not ever. I do not own a more reliable piece of software.

Steve Revill is a well known figure within the RISC OS community. He is a key player in the "RISC OS open" initiative, a move to open source the operating system in a controlled and sensible fashion. MoreDesk can be purchased on-line from the 7^th Software website .