Personal Computing requirements

Microsoft Office

If you require Microsoft Office to study your course there are many suppliers offering the software at a discounted price to students. You can search the internet to find the best offer for you or visit the Microsoft website.

Terminology explained

Web browser

A web browser is the software program that enables you to access the internet.

Our websites and browser-based software delivered on disc for student use, whether academic or administrative, are compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

Processor

The processor is the main component that determines a computer’s performance with the speed measured in Gigahertz (GHz). Although many other factors will effect a computer system's performance, generally the better the processor the faster your computer will run.

Processor specifications have changed in recent years so that it is no longer straight forward to define a minimum requirement by speed alone. Most Intel processors now have code numbers and may also be described as dual- or quad-core. Any such processor is sufficient. Older Pentium processors will be described by their speed and 2.0GHz or faster will be adequate. Laptop and portable computers often have slower processor speeds; we wouldn’t recommend that you use one of less than 1.6GHz. Equivalent AMD or other brand processors are satisfactory.

Some of the older software will not run on computers with both a 64-bit processor and a 64-bit Windows operating system.

Memory (RAM)

This is the memory your computer uses to run programs. The more memory you have, the more programs can run efficiently while open at the same time.

Minimum memory requirement is dependent on the operating system of your computer. The minimum of 256MB is only suitable for computers with Windows XP and, where applicable, basic Linux distributions. You need to check with your supplier and/or the Microsoft and Apple websites for the minimum memory requirements of Windows Vista and 7 and Apple OS X variants.

Operating system

This is the software that runs in the background on a computer and enables you to set up and organise your computer as you wish. Examples include Microsoft Windows, Linux and Macintosh OS.

Much of our older software is developed for Windows but you can use an Apple Mac or Linux computer if you can run Windows using Boot Camp or similar.

Some of the older software will not run on computers with both a 64-bit processor and a 64-bit Windows operating system.

Internet access

You will need an account with an internet service provider (ISP) to get a connection to the internet.

We recommend that you have broadband access to the internet; a 512kbps service is adequate. You can use dial-up (56kbps), but you will need to be patient, especially if you want to download a lot of course materials online.

Printer

You will find a printer useful for printing course materials and assignments. We make no recommendations about the type of printer you need but a few courses require a good quality photo printer (see individual course descriptions for details).

Using an Apple Mac for your studies

Of the few students who use a Mac, many of them successfully use systems such as the Apple Mac to study with the University. However, at present, they accept responsibility for their own support. If you decide to use a system other than a Windows-based PC, you may have problems accessing the software and data files supplied with course materials. The technical help offered by the OU Computing Helpdesk will be limited, so you should make sure that you have some other form of support in case you run into difficulties.

Online course content is currently tested with Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8, Mozilla Firefox version 2 and 3 and Safari. Mac users can therefore access online materials.

Most new DVDs for OU courses work in a browser, so they can be accessed from Macs as well as from PCs. Unfortunately, the cost of converting the older, non-browser-based products on existing courses would be prohibitive, so these aren’t directly Mac-accessible, but you can run emulation or VM software to access most of the legacy software provided by the OU. If you have one of the new (Intel processor) Macs then you can use the Apple Boot Camp ‘dual booting’ software that allows you to install Windows in native mode on your Mac. For an older Mac the Virtual PC software costs about £160 including a Windows licence. Other software to run Windows on a Mac include Parallels Desktop, VMware and Virtual Box. Depending on which of these products you use and the power of your machine, performance can be an issue. If you have an older, slower Mac with a limited amount of memory you should take appropriate technical advice before installing one of these products.

A limited number of courses may require students to use platform specific specialist software. This will be indicated in the published course description.

The electronic tutor-marked assignment (eTMA) system accepts documents in a range of formats, so students who don’t use Microsoft Word can submit their work in a platform-independent format, such as rich text format (RTF). Students can submit assignments using a Mac, running the open-source product OpenOffice and a standard web browser.

Courses that use online discussion forums can be accessed via Mac-based client software or use the online forum web interface.

Some courses, particularly in modern languages, have required the use of the PC-based audio conferencing and shared whiteboard system, Lyceum. A new synchronous collaboration system – compatible with both PCs and Macs – Elluminate – is in the process of being rolled out. If you want to study one of the online language courses with your Mac, then you should check which of these will be in use when you plan to study.

There is a Mac self-help group organised by OU students.

Linux

Because there are so many distributions of LINUX designed for different hardware platforms and users requirements, we cannot be prescriptive about which distribution and/or platform you should use. Normally, we would expect that the majority of LINUX users have Firefox as their web browser. The Open University course software that is browser-based is tested on Firefox. Depending on your LINUX distribution you may have to install additional applications into the browser, such as Flash or Shockwave. Depending on the other requirements of your course, for example the electronic assignment system, you may need to provide and install other software, such as a word processor, into your LINUX computer.

Computing helpdesk

Our experts can help you to get the most from our computing resources, and offer technical support for access to OU software and online materials. So if your computer doesn't match the specifications for your course phone or email our helpdesk:

• Phone + 44 (0) 1908 653972 (9.00 till 22.30)
• Email OU-computing-helpdesk@open.ac.uk
• FAQs site