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VirtualAcorn will become VAT registered from the 1st of January 2004, this means that regretfully some prices will rise slightly. For example VirtualRPC-SE now retails at ??169.00 inc VAT (plus p&p), as opposed to ??159.00 (plus p&p). Upgrades from VirtualA5000 are now ??149.00 inc VAT (plus p&p), the old price being ??139.00 plus p&p). More details are available from the ordering page on our website.

However although the prices have risen, the specifications of VirtualRPC-SE have improved even further. We are pleased to announce that all copies of VirtualRPC-SE supplied after 1st Jan 2004 will include the facility, first seen on the A6 from Stuart Tyrell Developments, to use extended video modes up to 8Mb in size. This allows RISC OS 4 to use resolutions up to 1600x1200 in full 24 bit colour. This feature has proved so popular that we have decided to make it available to all customers and would like to thank STD for their assistance and support. Existing users can download a free upgrade from the downloads section of our website that will add this feature to existing VirtualRPC-SE installations.

We are also pleased to announce that all copies of VirtualRPC-SE supplied after the 1st of January will also include power management support developed in conjunction with RISCOS Ltd. Power management is primarily intended for laptop computers and will reduce noise, since the machines fan(s) will not be running continuously, and will significantly extend battery life when running RISC OS. Our tests so far indicate that battery life under RISC OS is now similar to battery life under Windows XP. A free upgrade that adds power management support for existing users will be available shortly.

Also available is a free upgrade that fixes a couple of problems reported by users. This upgrade solves the intermittent error messages when printing on some machines and also fixes the "Compact disc is faulty" message returned by some makes of high speed CD/DVD drives. This will be included in all copes of VirtualRPC-SE supplied after the 1st of January.