It's underpowered for daily-use computing, sure - but as it says in the article, that's exactly what they're trying to avoid it being used for. It's not a replacement for a modern system, it's a machine on which students can learn how to make the computer work themselves. It's like an updated version of a home computer running Basic. And that, I think, is exactly what schools these days are missing.
It's exactly like an updated version of a home computer running BASIC. RISC OS still has a built-in BASIC interpreter and BBC BASIC is one of the best examples of BASIC available; it even manages in-line assembler. It certainly isn't BASIC as you are expecting it to be.
@People who haven't used RISC OS
It really is a truly great example of user interface design. Everything is drag'n'drop, even saving and loading files. All menus are context-sensitive. Applications are tidied up into directories. The close gadget is in the correct place
Coincidentally I recently posted a thread about ArcEm, so anybody wanting to try out RISC OS might like to look here:
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59609
