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Home - Computing - Home Computing Environment

Home Computing Environment

See also the Technology Literacy Requirements.

Please note that the School requires that all incoming students have computer access at home as follows:

• Processor:
  For PCs: Intel Pentium (4, D, M), Celeron (D, M, Mobile), Core (Duo, Solo), Core 2 (Duo, Extreme), Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Itanium, Xeon, or AMD Athlon, Turion, Sempron, X2 Dual-Core.
  For Macs: Intel-based processors (Core Duo/Solo, Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7) (Second Life requires 800MHz Pentium III or AMD Athlon, or better.)

• Operating System: For PC users: Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Windows Vista, or Windows 7.
  For Mac users: Mac OS X 10.5.x or better is required.
• RAM: 2.0 GB - 4.0 GB
• Hard Drive: 60GB or greater hard disk.
• Optical Drive (CD/DVD).
• Storage and Backup: External hard drives and USB Flash drives are highly recommended. Other options include DVD-RW/CD-RW drives. Mainly this is to encourage you to regularly backup your documents (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, HTML files, etc). NOTE: You are responsible for backing up anything you want to save from D2L. If you have course work Senna or another system, you are responsible for saving that. We strongly recommend that you keep extra backup copies of anything that will be needed in your e-Portfolio and that you back them up using one or more types of removable media.
• Audio: Sound card and speakers. (NOTE: many systems now have a sound system integrated on the motherboard, so you may NOT need to purchase a separate sound card).
• Graphics Card: (specifically for Second Life)
  • For Windows XP users: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, or ATI Radeon 8500, 9250 or better.(How to Check Graphics Card)
  • For Windows Vista users: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, or ATI Radeon 9500 or better.(How to Check Graphics Card)
  • For Mac users: ATI Radeon 9200 and above, or ATI Radeon X Series, or NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4. (How to Check Graphics Card)
• Headsets: Students are required to have a headset with a microphone. USB headsets are preferred, however analog headsets are acceptable.
• Printing: Local or networked printer (inkjet or laserjet).

• Internet Connectivity: Access to a high-speed connection is required. Minimum requirement: 768 Kbps downstream.

  Firewall: Second Life uses a "port" that is different from Web browsers and may need to be unblocked by your network administrator. See second.life.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=02 (opens in new window)

• E-mail: All students are expected to have an email account at which they can reliably receive communications from their instructors. Students are responsible for any email communications that are missed due to Spam filtering or whitelisting services.

  SLIS strongly discourages the use of "waitlisting" services. Should students choose to use such services, they do so at their own risk and are responsible for any missed communications.

  In cases where instructors are unable to reliably communicate with a student at a specific email address, the student may be asked to activate their SJSU Student Email account and use it for all class-related communications.

  All SJSU students are automatically issued a SJSU Student Email account. Students may activate and begin using their SJSU Student Email account at any time. Additional information is available at students.sjsu.edu/.

• Network Hardware: Any appropriate hardware for whatever type of Internet connection you have: (DSL modem, Cable-modem, ethernet adapter, etc).

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• Application Software:
  • Web browsers (NOTE: These requirements may be subject to change by your instructor)
    • For PC: Internet Explorer v. 8.0 or Firefox v.3.x are the SLIS recommended Web browsers with cookies and JavaScript enabled for PC users.
    • For Mac: Safari v.4 or v.5 or Firefox v.3.x are the SLIS recommended Web browsers for Mac users. Mac users may find it is better to use Firefox for MySJSU.
  • Adobe Reader v. 9 or 10 (Note: Adobe Reader 10 is officially named Adobe Reader "X") Adobe Reader versions
  • QuickTime (see Instructions for Downloading QuickTime)
  • RealPlayer Basic (see realplayer download instructions).
  • The latest version of the Adobe Flash Player (see Adobe Flash Player download page).
  • Microsoft Office Suite 2007 or higher (See more Microsoft Office information below)
  • Microsoft Silverlight (Mac and Windows) Silverlight Install Instructions

  • Blackboard IM (aka Blackboard Collaborate Enterprise IM): Students are required to download and install the Blackboard IM client software.

    After activating your Blackboard IM account (Blackboard Collaborate - IM Getting Started), you may download the Blackboard IM client software by logging into the Web portal at:
    Blackboard IM Sign In page (https://pronto.wimba.com/user/faces/login.xhtml)

  • Antivirus Software/Virus Scanner (See more antivirus information below.)
  • Anti-spyware software (See more anti-spyware information below.)

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Mac OS X

In LIBR 202 (all sections), all students are required to use software that is currently only available for Windows. The program is called Inmagic DBTextWorks (see link in sidebar). Intel Mac users have the option of acquiring virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion in order to use a Macintosh to run DBTextWorks. Note that you must also acquire a licensed copy of Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 in order to use DBTextWorks in a virtual Windows environment.

Intel Mac users also have the option of using the built-in "Boot Camp" feature, which allows you to install Windows on a separate hard drive partition. You can then boot your computer into either Windows or Mac OS X.

You can continue to use Microsoft Office in Mac OS X. If you already have Microsoft Office installed in your Mac OS X environment, you are not required to purchase it for the virtual Windows environment unless you want to run Microsoft Office in the virtual environment.

Microsoft Office and Academic Pricing

The Microsoft Office Suite for Windows and Mac OS is available to students through various vendors at a discounted academic price. You will be purchasing both the installation media as well as licensing for the product.

Academic Pricing: Academic pricing requires proof of academic affiliation (applies to faculty, students, and staff).

For online purchases through Creation Engine see their Policies: Academic Affiliation Requirements for details on what serves as proof of affiliation and how to submit it. One proof of affiliation is an email address ending in .edu. See e-mail accounts overview for how to obtain a .edu address. Other vendors have similar proof of affiliation policies.

• Microsoft has various packages that include the core products you will need: Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Below are a few of the Microsoft Office products available in fall 2010 with the name of the package.

  • PC:
    Office Home and Student 2010
    Includes: Word 2010, Excel 2010, Powerpoint 2010, OneNote 2010.

    Office Home and Business 2010
    Includes: Word 2010, Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, Powerpoint 2010, OneNote 2010.

    Office Standard 2010
    Includes: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, Publisher 2010.

    Office Professional 2010
    Includes: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Outlook 2010, OneNote 2010, Access 2010, and Publisher 2010.

    Office Professional Plus 2010
    Includes: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, Publisher 2010, Access 2010, InfoPath 2010, SharePoint Workspace 2010, Communicator 2007 R2.

    Office Professional Academic 2010
    Includes: Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, Outlook 2010, OneNote 2010, Publisher 2010, Access 2010.

  • Mac:
    Office 2011 for Mac (Student Select)
    Includes: Excel for Mac 2011, Outlook for Mac 2011, PowerPoint for Mac 2011, Word for Mac 2011.

• Online vendors. (This list is provided as a convenience; there are other educational pricing vendors.):
  
  • Spartan Bookstore [Managed by Barnes & Noble College]
  • Creation Engine
  • Academic Superstore
  • Genesis
  • JourneyEd
  • Student Discounts
  • Microsoft

Creation Engine purchases can be made by any SJSU student residing in the United States.

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Antivirus Software

Students are responsible for purchasing, installing, and maintaining antivirus software on their home computers. It is now a mandatory requirement that students have antivirus software installed on their home computers. Students are also required to keep their virus definitions up to date.

Anti-spyware Software

Recommended:

• Free for non-commercial personal use
  • Spybot Search and Destroy. www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
  • Ad-aware. www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
• Commercial
  • Webroot Spy Sweeper. www.webroot.com/

It is good to run more than one anti-spyware scanner periodically. For instance, scan your system using Ad-aware and delete any spyware/adware that is detected. Then, run Spybot S&D and do the same. Often the second program will identify spyware & adware that the first program missed.

Laptop Rental

Please note that students may rent laptops through SJSU Associated Students. The price is $25 per week, and an SJSU student ID is required. Students interested in this should contact Associated Students at 408-924-6976 and inquire about the Laptop Rental Program.

Web Browsers and Cookies

Please make sure that your web browser is configured to accept cookies. Several SLIS server programs require the usage of cookies in order to function correctly.

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