Editing Acorn Archimedes A305 (section)

=== System Memory Usage ===

The operating system memory footprint varied significantly between Arthur and RISC OS:

{| class="wikitable styled-table" style="width:85%; text-align:center;"
! Component !! Arthur 0.30 !! Arthur 1.20 !! RISC OS 2.00
|-
| Kernel || 48 KB || 52 KB || 64 KB
|-
| Desktop || 64 KB || 72 KB || 96 KB
|-
| Font cache || N/A || N/A || 32 KB minimum
|-
| System heap || 32 KB || 40 KB || 48 KB
|-
| Module area || 16 KB || 24 KB || 32-64 KB
|-
| '''Total''' || ~160 KB || ~188 KB || ~272-304 KB
|}

RISC OS 2.00's increased memory requirements made the 512 KB configuration marginal for desktop use. The font manager alone could consume 100 KB when using outline fonts, leaving minimal space for applications. This limitation drove many A305 owners to upgrade to 1 MB, particularly after RISC OS became available.