<html><head><title>Acorn paper-based magazines</title></head>
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<center><h3>Acorn paper-based magazines</h3></center>
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When people ask me about what Acorn magazines are worth buying, two major names come to mind:
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<h4>Acorn User:</h4>
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 <i>Acorn User</i> is exactly for whom its title indicates. It covers all the current Acorn news, has countless reviews of software and hardware and still finds space for a few pages on PD; its discs have good demos of commerical software on them, PD and freeware applications and (my personal favourite) *Info (a hangover from the days when <i>Acorn User</i> was <i>BBC Acorn User</i> and had mostly small BASIC programs for BBCs, Masters and Master Compacts, *Info is a collection of small submissions, including BASIC graphical demos, music, sillies and the odd bit of really useful software). <i>Acorn User</i> also has running programming tutorial series every so often, including Wimp programming in C, assembler and even games design and 3D rendering.
 If you want to know what's going on and what's worth buying, <i>Acorn User</i>'s your document.
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<h4>Risc User:</h4>
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 <i>Risc User</i> is a breath of fresh air to me, after so many years of programming. The magazine, produced by <a href="Evaluate">Beebug</a> in a very neat A5 format, has the regular mix of reviews and often includes a good apprisal of the state of Acorn in its partnerships, but, I think, is best summed up by some of its regular columns: <i>Compiler Corner</i> (a regular roundup of C-related developments, along with programming tips), <i>Wimp Topics</i> (every month, a specific and often little-known aspect of programming on the desktop, mostly for BASIC users), <i>Hints & Tips</i> (where people just send in useful points to remember when programming), <i>Write Back</i> (a pun for the more technically-minded readers, this letters page contains anything and everything written by Acorn users about their machines) and <i>Technical Queries</i> (if you ever need to know why something doesn't work or how to do something else, here's the place to ask). Have you ever wondered how programs get to load their files if you double click on them? Have you ever wanted to use a system variable in a BASIC program? Through two volumes of back-issues, my ability to program this operating system as grown immeasurably.
 Coupled with regular columns on image mastering, DTP and various other items, <i>Risc User</i> is the sort of publication which makes you forget that you haven't got the PRMs.
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