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Standard Software/Operating Systems

Technology installs and upgrades standard software on all Simmons-owned computers at no cost to departments. The Help Desk supports all standard software, which includes troubleshooting; researching and solving specific questions on achieving particular ends; suggesting alternate approaches to improve the way software is used; diagnosing software flaws and recommending solutions; and attempting to restore corrupted files. The Pottruck Technology Resource Center provides training for faculty, staff and students in the use of Simmons standard software.

To request the most recent version of any of the standard software be installed on a Simmons computer, please complete a Software Installation Request Form.

Purpose	Windows	Macintosh
Operating System	Windows XP Professional with all current patches / Windows Vista with all current patches	Macintosh OS X.3.9 / X.4.8 with all current patches (as of July 2006, OS X.2 is not supported as standard)
Office suite: presentation, spreadsheet, word processing	Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word 2003 / 2007 (as of July 2007, Office XP is not supported as standard; after June 2009, Office 2003 will no longer be supported as standard)	Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word X / 2004 (as of July 2007, Office X is not supported as standard)
Email	Mozilla Thunderbird 1, Outlook XP/2003 (Netscape is supported on existing Simmons computers, but will not be installed on new ones)	Apple Mail app (OS X), Microsoft Entourage X/2004, Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 (Netscape is supported on existing Simmons computers, but will not be installed on new ones)
Web browsing	Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (required by Simmons eLearning), Mozilla Firefox 2	Safari (required by Simmons eLearning), Mozilla Firefox 2
Antivirus	Sophos Anti-Virus	Sophos Anti-Virus
Media viewer/player	QuickTime Player 7, Windows Media Player 10, Macromedia Flash Player 7.1, Shockwave 9 player	QuickTime Player 7, Windows Media Player 9, Macromedia Flash Player 7, Shockwave player 9
PDF reader	Adobe Acrobat Reader 6-7.08	Adobe Acrobat Reader 6-7.08, Apple Preview app (OS X)
File de-compressor	EZ Zip 2000	StuffIt Expander 9
Personal/group calendaring	Meeting Maker 8.6.2	Meeting Maker 8.6.2

Simmons web based tools (e.g. AARC, WebMail, WebEvent, and Library applications) and administrative database system (Datatel: Colleague and Benefactor) are also standard software. As appropriate, Technology staff will refer you to the owner of the system (i.e. the Registrar's Office in the case of AARC, or the Libraries in the case of online course reserves).

Additional software available on all Simmons computers

The following cross-platform applications are installed on all new machines and available by request for installation on all existing machines. These applications are supported in the same manner as Academic/Accepted Software.  Please note that these are "shared licenses" and so using any of these pieces of software requires being connected to the Simmons wired network, on-campus, so that the software can communicate with the license server.

Purpose	Software name
Create PDF Files	Acrobat Standard 7
Image creation, manipulation	Adobe Photoshop CS2
Multimedia creation, manipulation	Mac: iLife '06 (GarageBand, iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto) Windows: Audacity, Microsoft Movie Maker, Microsoft Photo Story
Web page/site authoring	Macromedia Dreamweaver 8

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