Qercus magazine continued Acorn User, incorporating Acorn Publisher, after being run into the ground by Tau Press. Qercus saw a return of the magazine to its roots in the Acorn operating system (RISC OS) and was produced (for the first time?) on an Acorn computer. Means were found to increase editorial content, move to full-colour production, and increase page-count but its life was limited. Rising printing and postage costs meant that Qercus always had a precarious viability and market shrinkage following the dispute caused by Castle's repeated attempts to freeze other hardware and software developers out of the market, meant that the magazine could only operate at a loss.