PC Minimum Requirements

• 128MB RAM
• Pentium II 266MHz
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Internet Explorer 5

Hardware requirements

• 128MB RAM
• Pentium II or better CPU 266MHz or better CPU clock speed.
• Accelerated Graphics card, with at least 2MB of memory

(This is for the ‘high’ bit rate video, lower rates require less CPU frequency).

Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista

Browsers:

• Internet Explorer 5 or better
• Mozilla 1.0 or better
• Firefox 1.0 or better
• Opera 7.0 or better

(May work in other browsers, however these are untested)

Browser Extensions:

Flash player 9.0 or later

Macintosh Minimum Requirements

• 192MB RAM
• G3 350MHz
• OS X Version 10.2.7
• Safari Version 1.2.4

Hardware requirements

• 192MB RAM
• G3 or better CPU
• 350MHz or better CPU clock speed
• Accelerated Graphics card, with at least 10MB of memory

Operating System:

OSX version 10.2.7 or better (with all current patches)

Browsers:

• Safari version 1.2.4 or better (fully patched)
• Latest versions of Mozilla and Internet Explorer

Browser Extensions: Flash player 9.0 or later

Linux Minimum Requirements

• 192MB RAM
• Pentium III 450MHz
• Debian, Red Hat, Suse
• Firefox and IE

Hardware requirements

• 192MB RAM
• Pentium III or better CPU
• 450MHz or better CPU clock speed.
• Accelerated Graphics card, with at least 4MB of memory

Operating system:

Debian, Red hat, Suse

Emulators:

• Only Wine has been tested

Emulated Browsers:

• Firefox and IE

Emulated Browser Extensions:

Flash player 9.0 or better

What are the different connection rates, and how fast does my internet connection have to be to view them without buffering the Venusian Skills video?

Bandwidths for different connection types

In general there are (up to) 3 different bandwidth rates provided by Venusian Skills.

NOTE: each site may not have all rates published.

• Low ~ approx 300 kbps and is suitable for a 256k (download) DSL or cable modem connection.
• Medium ~ approx 512 kbps and is suitable for a 512k (download) DSL or cable modem connection.
• High ~ approx 768 kbps and is suitable for 1500k+ (download) DSL or cable modem connection.

So now, knowing what I require to play Venusian Skills video, how do I go about determining if my system fulfills the requirements?

PC Compatible

Click "Start" then "Run" the type "dxdiag" and hit enter. Often, you'll be prompted with a Microsoft WHQL prompt. Select an option, depending on you preference, and you'll be prompted with a screen that reports the Windows version, Service Pack Level, Processor speed and system RAM.

Clicking on the "Display" Tab reports information on the video card installed on your system. In there (top left corner) the amount of RAM on the video card will be displayed.

If your system is displaying jerky or 'stuttery' video and it comfortably fulfills the minimum hardware requirements, we recommend rebooting the machine if it has been operating for an extended period of time, or if many applications have been used since it was last rebooted.

Apple Macintosh

Click on the apple symbol on the top left hand corner of the screen, and select "About this Mac".

This will provide information about the amount of system RAM, the CPU type and speed of CPU.

To obtain information about the graphics memory available on the computer, Click on the "More information" button on the dialog, and select the "PCI/AGP cards" in the left hand list box. The amount of VRAM (Video RAM) is reported in the Bottom right hand window pane.

Linux

Start up a terminal prompt , and type in "dmesg" and hit enter. Depending on the flavor of linux this should report all the required pieces of information.

How do I know what software version I am using?

PC Compatible

Operating System: Click "Start" -> "Settings" -> "Control Panel" then double click the "System". This will report the operating system and service pack level.

Apple Macintosh

Operating System: Click on the apple symbol on the top left hand corner of the screen, and select "About this Mac". This will report the operating system version.

Linux

Operating System: Start up a terminal session and type "dmesg | head". The first couple of lines will report the linux kernal version number and operating system details.

Browsers:

Internet explorer: Start Internet Explorer, and click on "Help" in the Menu, followed by "About"
Firefox: Start Firefox and click "Help" then "About Mozilla Firefox"
Opera: Start Opera and click "Help" then "About Opera"

How do I update my software?

Follow the following links to update software on your PC.

Browser Updates:

• Internet Explorer: Navigate to the following URL in your favorite browser www.windowsupdate.com and follow the instructions provided.
• Mozilla Browser: Navigate to the following URL in your favorite browser www.mozilla.org and follow the instructions provided.
• Firefox Browser: Navigate to the following URL in your favorite browser www.mozilla.org and follow the instructions provided.
• Opera Browser: Navigate to the following URL in your favorite browser www.opera.com and follow the instructions provided.
• Safari Browser: Click on the apple symbol on the top left hand corner of the screen, and select "About this Mac". Click on the "Software updates" button.