ACORN PLANS TO SPIN-OFF NEW SOFTWARE SUBSIDIARY.Acorn Group Plc is considering a plan to spin off its RISC OS (operating system) RISC OS - (Reduced Instruction Set Computer Operating System) The operating system originally developed by Acorn Computers for their Archimedes family of personal computers. RISC OS replaced the Arthur operating system used on the first Archimedeses. as a separate company following the spin-off The situation that arises when a parent corporation organizes a subsidiary corporation, to which it transfers a portion of its assets in exchange for all of the subsidiary's capital stock, which is subsequently transferred to the parent corporation's shareholders. of its ARM Holdings Plc, which subsequently became a much larger and more successful company than its parent. A steering group has been formed with some of the main Acorn distributors and developers to plot out the shape of the new organization. UK-based Acorn is tight-lipped tight·lipped also tight-lipped adj. 1. Having the lips pressed together. 2. Loath to speak; close-mouthed. See Synonyms at silent. on developments and says it is early days yet. In September, Acorn dropped plans to launch a new version of its proprietary PC, the RISC PC The Risc PC (codenamed Medusa) was Acorn Computers's next generation RISC OS/Acorn RISC Machine computer, launched in 1994, which superseded the Acorn Archimedes. Like the Archimedes, the Risc PC continued the practice of having the RISC OS operating system in a ROM module. 2, though it said it would continue to supply the existing range. The move, part of a huge cutback cut·back n. 1. A decrease; a curtailment: "The political effects of food cutbacks could be devastating" New York Times. 2. by the company, followed a slump in sales of machines whose main customers have been in the education market. Nevertheless, Acorn still has a dedicated band of users, both in the UK and in Europe, and several companies approached it to take over production of RISC PC2 machines. Acorn has now changed tack and is talking of licensing the OS to any interested parties. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion