<s>
The	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
(	O
or	O
)	O
was	O
to	O
be	O
Acorn	O
Computers	O
 '	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
RiscPC	B-Device
,	O
slated	O
for	O
release	O
in	O
late	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
233	O
MHz	O
Intel	O
StrongARM	B-Device
SA110	O
Revision	O
S	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
SMC37672	O
SuperIO	B-Device
chip	O
supporting	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
VIDC20	B-Device
Revision	O
R	O
video	B-Device
controller	I-Device
supporting	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
1996	O
,	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
what	O
was	O
to	O
become	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
was	O
started	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
took	O
into	O
account	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
perceived	O
weaknesses	O
of	O
the	O
RiscPC	B-Device
design	O
,	O
a	O
slow	O
memory	O
architecture	O
,	O
limited	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
capability	O
,	O
limited	O
expansion	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
adhering	O
to	O
industry	O
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
overcome	O
these	O
weakness	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
design	O
objectives	O
were	O
created	O
:	O
harness	O
the	O
full	O
potential	O
of	O
the	O
StrongARM	B-Device
CPU	B-General_Concept
,	O
support	O
multiple	O
processors	O
,	O
add	O
support	O
for	O
PCI	B-Protocol
expansion	O
,	O
offer	O
the	O
best	O
possible	O
graphics	O
,	O
run	O
existing	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
applications	O
,	O
and	O
provide	O
enhanced	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
additional	O
design	O
objective	O
of	O
reusing	O
the	O
same	O
case	O
as	O
the	O
RiscPC	B-Device
was	O
dropped	O
due	O
to	O
power	O
supply	O
requirements	O
and	O
electrical	O
interference	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VIDC20R	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
VIDC20	B-Device
video	O
chip	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
RiscPC	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
a	O
shrink	O
of	O
the	O
process	O
to	O
0.6	B-Algorithm
μm	I-Algorithm
,	O
a	O
100%	O
performance	O
increase	O
was	O
gained	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Throughout	O
development	O
and	O
prototyping	O
the	O
IOMD2	O
were	O
developed	O
on	O
a	O
large	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
15	O
September	O
1998	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
motherboards	O
with	O
silicon	O
(	O
rather	O
than	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
)	O
based	O
IOMD2	O
chips	O
were	O
powered	O
up	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
successfully	O
ran	O
at	O
the	O
full	O
front-side	B-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
speed	O
of	O
64MHz	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
improved	O
performance	O
of	O
the	O
video	O
chip	O
was	O
also	O
seen	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
various	O
bugs	O
in	O
the	O
sound	O
DMA	O
were	O
reported	O
and	O
general	O
system	O
instability	O
was	O
noted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
days	O
later	O
,	O
on	O
17	O
September	O
1998	O
,	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
was	O
cancelled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
years	O
following	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
RiscPC	B-Device
,	O
Acorn	O
had	O
discussed	O
using	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
as	O
their	O
next	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
using	O
TAOS	O
or	O
writing	O
their	O
own	O
microkernel-based	O
operating	O
system	O
Galileo	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
for	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
an	O
enhanced	O
version	O
of	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
would	O
be	O
developed	O
,	O
called	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
4	O
(	O
codenamed	O
'	O
Ursula	O
 '	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
would	O
n't	O
support	O
the	O
multiple	O
processor	O
daughter	O
cards	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
hardware	O
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
4	O
had	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
new	O
hardware	O
of	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
which	O
was	O
n't	O
present	O
in	O
Acorn	O
's	O
earlier	O
machines	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
several	O
new	O
features	O
were	O
to	O
be	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
core	O
of	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
;	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
prepare	O
developers	O
for	O
the	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
OS	O
,	O
Acorn	O
released	O
to	O
its	O
'	O
Registered	O
Developer	O
 '	O
program	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
3.80	O
,	O
designed	O
to	O
load	O
on	O
Acorn	O
's	O
previous	O
generation	O
RiscPC	B-Device
and	O
A7000	B-Device
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
would	O
enable	O
developers	O
to	O
test	O
that	O
their	O
software	O
would	O
be	O
compatible	O
with	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
,	O
provided	O
it	O
did	O
n't	O
require	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
hardware	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
3.80	O
was	O
limited	O
,	O
it	O
only	O
ran	O
on	O
ARM6	O
and	O
ARM7	O
RiscPCs	B-Device
and	O
not	O
StrongARM	B-Device
(	O
ARMv4	O
)	O
based	O
ones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
project	O
used	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
names	O
inspired	O
by	O
characters	O
from	O
the	O
TV	O
series	O
'	O
Friends	O
 '	O
as	O
code	O
names	O
for	O
the	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
17	O
September	O
1998	O
,	O
Acorn	O
finished	O
a	O
review	O
of	O
its	O
business	O
and	O
decided	O
to	O
close	O
the	O
'	O
Workstation	O
Division	O
 '	O
,	O
the	O
department	O
developing	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
,	O
and	O
all	O
work	O
stopped	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Acorn	O
Computers	O
 '	O
CEO	O
Stan	O
Boland	O
said	O
,	O
"	O
There	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
big	O
enough	O
market	O
for	O
the	O
PC	O
(	O
Risc	B-Device
PC	I-Device
2	I-Device
)	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
largely	O
for	O
home	O
use	O
and	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
aftermath	O
of	O
the	O
cancellation	O
of	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
and	O
Acorn	O
Computers	O
 '	O
change	O
in	O
direction	O
from	O
general	O
computing	O
to	O
set-top	O
box	O
development	O
and	O
DSP	O
silicon	O
design	O
there	O
were	O
several	O
attempts	O
to	O
resurrect	O
some	O
or	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
hardware	O
or	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
4	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Of	O
these	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
successful	O
group	O
was	O
the	O
Steering	O
Group	O
who	O
,	O
after	O
initially	O
being	O
interested	O
in	O
releasing	O
the	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
,	O
realised	O
it	O
would	O
be	O
financially	O
prohibitive	O
and	O
set	O
about	O
creating	O
a	O
new	O
company	O
RISCOS	B-Operating_System
Ltd	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
1999	O
,	O
RISCOS	B-Operating_System
Ltd	O
negotiated	O
a	O
licence	O
with	O
Element	O
14	O
,	O
the	O
recently	O
renamed	O
Acorn	O
Computers	O
,	O
and	O
set	O
about	O
finishing	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
4	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
1999	O
RISCOS	B-Operating_System
Ltd	O
launched	O
RISC	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
4	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supported	O
Acorn	O
's	O
RiscPC	B-Device
and	O
A7000/	B-Device
+	I-Device
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
cancellation	O
,	O
excess	O
stock	O
of	O
the	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
yellow	O
NLX	B-Device
case	O
was	O
sold	O
by	O
CTA	O
Direct	O
,	O
sometimes	O
including	O
an	O
NLX-compatible	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
known	O
working	O
Phoebe	B-Device
2100	I-Device
is	O
held	O
in	O
the	O
collection	O
of	O
The	O
Centre	O
for	O
Computing	O
History	O
in	O
Cambridge	O
,	O
England	O
.	O
</s>
