Hardware/Software

Hardware Technical Specifications
   A minimum computer system that will help you access all the tools in the course is:

   PC users…

• A minimum computer system that will help you access all the tools in the courses is a Pentium 166 or better
• 32 Megabytes of RAM or better
• Windows 95 (or higher if possible)
• Communications software (this lets your computer talk to the modem)
• A modem (56k or better will give you best performance)
• And a dependable internet service provider (ISP). Any provider will do as long as you get an email account, have access to the World Wide Web, and don’t have serious problems connecting. 
• For a list of ISPs in your area see The List
  

   For Mac users…

• Minimum system requirements for Mac users is an iMac®, Apple® Macintosh®, or PowerPC® computer running Mac OS system 8.5 or above 
• Along with the latest browsers Internet Explorer 5.0 and/or Netscape 4.75 or 6.0. 
• Your Macintosh should have a minimum or 64 MB RAM, preferably 128 with at least 25 MB assigned to your browser. If you do not know how to do this please refer to your Apple Help file searching under the header Memory - Adjusting your memory usage. It is not advised that you have multiple applications open while working in your browser within SUNO Online courses as this will require more RAM (an applications minimum RAM requirement is law on a Mac) Mac programs are RAM intensive and require as much as you can give them to run at their optimum. 
• You also need communications software (this lets your computer talk to the modem); 
• A modem (56k or better will give you best performance)
• And a dependable internet service provider (ISP). Any provider will do as long as you get an email account, have access to the World Wide Web, and don’t have serious problems connecting or maintaining a connection. NOTE: There are very few if any providers of free internet service that provide for the Macintosh computer so this is not a suggested option.

Remember! These specifications are minimal, and you'll get by with them, but more sophisticated systems are better.

General Software Recommendations
   Sometimes, specific courses will have specific recommendations about software.  See your course syllabus for specifics about required software.  
   Online Resourses, lists free online add-in software to enhance your web-based courses.

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