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Recommended System Requirements for Macintosh computers

This document reflects Office of Information Technology's (OIT) current minimum recommendations for Macintosh computers purchased for use by students, faculty, and staff at the University of Maryland. The intention is to recommend both hardware and software for a system that will remain useful for the next few years.

Current and prospective members of the university can also purchase recommended Macintosh computer systems and acquire recommended software through our web page on purchasing a Dell or Apple system.

If any of the terms used below are unfamiliar, definitions can be found at http://whatis.techtarget.com/.

Note that all currently available Macintosh systems (including iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro) meet these specifications.

Macintosh Systems Hardware Recommendations

Processor Desktop: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Laptop: 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 1 GB
Hard drive capacity 80 GB or more
Networking Ethernet card for residence halls or on-campus offices
AirPort card for wireless (not necessary for desktops)
CD/DVD Player Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CDRW) or Super Drive (DVD-RW/CD-RW)
Operating System Mac OS X 10.4 and above

NOTE: Some students initially bring an older computer from home to the university. Such systems are not considered to be useful for more than a year.

Macintosh Systems Software Recommendations

Operating System Mac OS X 10.4 and above
Office Suite Microsoft Office 2004
Web Browser Firefox 2.x
Safari 2.x or higher
SeaMonkey 1.1.x
E-mail Client Thunderbird 2.x
Mail 2.x or higher
SeaMonkey 1.1.x
Entourage 2004
Anti-Virus Software Free, licensed VirusScan 8.6 if you are a student, faculty or staff at the University of Maryland College Park
RSS Clients Firefox 2.x (live bookmarks)
Thunderbird 2.x (feeds)
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