Plug-in/Helper Applications
One of the largest computing sites on campus is located in Smith Hall
Some files in the Department of Biological Sciences web site may require additional software to use; listed below are the recommended applications for these files. While many of these applications are available to download for free, university students and employees also have the option of using the same or compatible software on computers at several computing sites located on campus.
PDF files
Portable Document Format (PDF) is an widely used file format that preserves document integrity so files can be viewed and printed on a variety of platforms.
Recommended free software for PDF files
| Operating Systems | Software Title and Version |
|---|---|
| Windows 2000, XP, Vista | Adobe Reader 9.0 |
| Mac OS X 10.4.11 and higher | Adobe Reader 9.0 |
| Mac OS X 10.2.8 - 10.4.2 | Adobe Reader 7.1.0 |
| Linux | Adobe Reader 8.1.2 |
Microsoft Word files
While Microsoft Word for Windows and Microsoft Word for Macintosh are commercial products, there are free programs available that will display Word files. Some other commercial word processing programs, like Corel WordPerfect and Apple Pages can also open Word files.
Recommended free software for Word files
| Operating Systems | Software Title and Version |
|---|---|
| Windows 2000, XP, Vista | Word Viewer |
| Mac OS X 10.3 and higher | TextEdit (included with Mac OS X) |
| Linux | OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 |
ZIP files
The ZIP format is a popular method of compressing one or more large files into one smaller file. It can drastically cut the amount of time it takes to download large files for computers with slower Internet connections.
Recommended free software for ZIP files
| Operating Systems | Instructions/Software |
|---|---|
| Windows Vista | Windows Vista unzip instructions |
| Windows XP | Windows XP unzip instructions |
| Mac OS X 10.3 and higher | Mac OS X unzip instructions |
| Linux | Linux unzip instructions |