Required Software

Windows XP Professional or Windows Vista Home Premium (and above) is the required operating system of this laptop program for the following reasons:
 

·         There are significant differences between Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition. At Polytechnic, we have our students work in teams. Collaboration and easy network integration are critical. This is the major advantage of Windows XP Professional over Windows XP Home Edition.

·         Older versions of Windows such as Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows ME, etc. are no longer fully supported by Microsoft.

·         Windows Vista is the newest Microsoft OS and readily available in most laptops today. Vista has new features such as Windows Aero & Sidebar for better desktop navigation. It offers improved security with its embedded firewall and Windows Defender along with the ability to encrypt data and do complete pc backup.

·         Much of the required software we can provide via group or volume licenses is only licensed for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

 

All incoming undergraduate first-year students are required to have the following software installed on their laptops by the first day of classes:

·         Microsoft Office or a compatible office productivity suite such as OpenOffice or WordPerfect Office.

·         Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

·         Anti-virus software with maintained virus definitions

·         Mindstorms

·         MATLAB Release 2008a

 

Microsoft Office is not required but strongly recommended given its level of adoption within Polytechnic University. Transfer students may not need all the software listed above.

For all students, dependent upon your academic program and the courses you undertake in later years, you may be required to purchase additional software packages such as the following:

·         LabView

·         AutoCAD

·         Additional “toolboxes” for MATLAB (this can be obtained directly from MathWorks or via a vendor with whom we’ve negotiated pricing for faculty & students, A-Prompt)

The cost of such later requirements will generally be comparable to the cost of a textbook.  Whenever possible, you can make use of any software discounts or group licenses that Polytechnic has arranged.

You must respect copyright and software license agreements.   A software license is a type of proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software that specifies the parameters of the permission granted by the producer to the user. All software is protected under United States copyright laws from the time of its creation. You are required to have valid, licensed copies of all software on your laptop and use this software within the rights granted to you by those licenses. Violation of software licenses or copyright is a violation of Poly’s Acceptable Use Policy. In addition, violation of software licenses or copyright is illegal and severe civil and criminal penalties can result.   Should violation of software licenses be detected, the Information System Department will refuse technical support, disable one’s ability to connect to the University network, and refer the matter to the Dean of Students for judicial action.

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