The purpose of this page is to link you to some of the software that you might need to download while working with the pages of the Communities website. With each link you will find a brief description of the software and how the Communities site uses it. Downloading is not difficult, but it can be confusing if you've never tried it before. Farther down this page you'll find some general information that will help you understand the steps that you will go through in the download process, as well as what you to expect when you install your new software.

Software Links
In some situations, our site may inform you that you need certain software applications to view a page or file. These links will lead you to the software you need.

Website	Product	Use by Communities site
	Navigator or   Communicator	The Communities site was designed to run on a level-four browser. Either of these Netscape products will work.
	Internet   Explorer	Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" is another browser that will display the Communities pages for you.
	QuickTime	Downloading Apple's "QuickTime" will allow you to view the QTVR (virtual reality) files in our site tour.
	Acrobat    Reader	Adobe's "Acrobat Reader" will allow you to view the printable student materials for each of the site units.

Downloading Software
When you visit a site to download a file (like one of the applications above) the site will usually ask you for some information. It will need to know what "platform" you want the software for ...usually a choice between Macintosh or Windows. Instead it may ask you for which "operating system" you are using, which again is a way of telling them whether you will be using the software in a Macitosh or Windows environment.

A download site will usually ask you to give them your name and your e-mail address. While this can be a warning sign on the Internet that you are in danger of having your e-mail account get spammed, the websites we have suggested above are very good about not sending you a lot of unwanted messages. Some of them will also let you check off an option that says you are not interested in being contacted.

Once you have entered the information the page is requesting, you are generally asked to click a "Download" button. This button will start the process of transfering to your machine the files that you will need to install the new software. If your download is successful, it will result in some files being added to your machine, probably on your desktop. You have successfully downloaded the application!

Installing Software
Downloading a piece of software is not the same thing as installing it. When you buy a new piece of software at the store, the software comes compressed on a CD. You place the CD in your machine, and then go through a series of steps to decompress the software and add its parts to the proper files in your hard drive. This is what you are doing when you install software.

The downloading process you went through in the steps above has given you a file that is like new software still on the CD: you need to install it. In fact these files very commonly say "Installer" in their name.

To install the application, you just need to run the installer by double-clicking on the file you downloaded. The installer will take you through the process step-by-step. It usually involves your agreeing to some standard licensing rules, choosing which folder you want the software installed into, and then watching as the installer does the rest. You may be asked to "Quit" any applications you are using before installing. When the installation is done, you may also be asked to restart your machine so your system can find the pieces of the new software and make use of them.

Once you have finished installing, you can throw out the installer files that you downloaded from the website. You're ready to use the software to visit the pages of the Communities website!