Software
See also: Information Services software web site.
- Which packages can I install?
- University software
- General purpose software
- Scientific software
- Utilities
- Other software
- Links
Which packages can I install?
This table summarises the installations allowed under our software licensing agreements. Please contact the IT Office or the University IT Help Desk for information on other packages.
University software
Mulberry (email)
Mulberry is the University's recommended email program. Install it for free on any PC at Information Services Mulberry site. You can also view your email on any computer with a web browser by visiting Webmail at http://webmail.bris.ac.uk/
Oracle Calendar
Oracle Calendar is the University's diary software. You can view your calendar on the web at http://calendar.bris.ac.uk/ or with a desktop program.
General purpose software
Microsoft Forefront (anti-virus)
Your School computer already has Microsoft Forefront anti-virus software installed. The best free anti-virus program for home use is Microsoft Security Essentials.
Microsoft Office/Windows
The University has bought a Microsoft Campus licence which lets us install many Microsoft applications on computers owned by the University. The licence also covers staff home use of these packages for work purposes, but the IT Office must be notified of every installation for record-keeping. More information on the Campus licence can be found on the Information Services web site.
Other Microsoft applications can be bought at educational discounts; please contact the IT Office for more information.
Personal copies of Office are cheapest through Microsoft's Ultimate Steal promotion.
We advise that you use Office 2007 but you may continue to use Office 2003 if you wish. If you have Office 2003, install the Office Compatibility Pack so that you can open documents created in the newest version.
Firefox (web browser)
We recommend that you use Firefox to browse the web. Help keep your computer secure by always using the latest version. Firefox is completely free.
Image manipulation software
For scanning and basic image manipulation, we recommend a free tool called Paint.NET. Advanced users may want to look at Serif Photoplus, which is installed on School PCs and can be purchased at a discount for personal use. Photoshop - the industry standard - can be bought from Pugh Computers at a decent discount.
Drawing software
Serif Drawplus is installed on School PCs and suitable for most drawing tasks. Adobe Illustrator can be bought from Pugh.
Adobe Reader (PDFs)
Adobe Reader is the standard program for reading Portable Document Format (PDF) files such as journal articles. If you have problems with Adobe Reader, try Foxit Reader, a free alternative.
EndNote (bibliographic software)
EndNote can be installed for free on University-owned computers. Individual EndNote licenses for home use can be bought but are very expensive. Home users can experiment with the free web version of EndNote or can remotely access EndNote on their work PC via Remote Desktop.
Google Earth
Free virtual globe software from Google. Installed on all modern School PCs.
Scientific software
MATLAB
The School pays for a MATLAB subscription. Research postgraduates and staff are entitled to use MATLAB on University-owned computers. MATLAB is not licensed for use outside of the UK.
- MATLAB starts with the default location for files pointing to the K: drive, which only holds about 50 MB. To change this to something more useful, see the userpath command. View our full guide to adding new paths.
SPSS (current version: 16)/PASW (current version: 18)
The School pays for SPSS/PASW. Research postgraduates and staff are entitled to use SPSS on University-owned computers. Licences can be given out for home use; please contact the IT Office for further information.
- To change the default program for SPSS files back to version 16, follow these instructions.
R
Free, open source stats package. Installed on modern school PCs.
Sigmaplot
Graphing software. Installed on modern School PCs.
Scientific utilities
Installed on School PCs: Avisoft SASLab, ImageJ, PAST, Vortex, WinTwins.
Installed on request
Maple, Exceed, Labview, Sequencher, ArcGIS, ArcView, see the University's software page for more
Recommended utilities
CDBurnerXP
Simple CD burning software. Installed on modern School PCs.
7-Zip (zip/unzip files)
Use 7-Zip to bundle up lots of files into a single ZIP and open up compressed files (e.g. RAR, TAR) sent you to. Another free, open-source program. Installed on modern School PCs.
PDFCreator
PDFCreator is a free, open-source program that can convert any document into a PDF. Download its installation file from the PDFCreator website.
ISO Recorder (burn 'image' files to disc)
Software is occasionally distributed in a single big file called an ISO or 'image'. Use ISO Recorder to turn this big file into a working CD/DVD.
Other software
Other software can be ordered at educational discounts through our supplier, Pugh Computers (CLP level 3 for Adobe products). Please let the IT Office know of any purchases you make through Pugh so that we can keep records up-to-date in case we are audited.