 |
 |
University of California, San Francisco | About UCSF | Search UCSF | UCSF Medical Ctr. advancing health worldwide™ | |
|  | | Computer Requirements | Buying | Literacy | Hardware | Op. Sys. | Office | Internet | |
Computer Requirements
Computer Requirements
|
Software: Microsoft Office
You are required to have an up-to-date copy of Microsoft Office 2003 or Office 2007 on your computer, including all patches, updates, and service packs.
Office is published in several editions and price levels for both the Windows and the Apple (Macintosh) platforms.
The following icons illustrate the component parts of Office 2003 Professional Edition for Windows XP.
Microsoft Office Requirements
| Category/ Platform |
Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Office 2007 Home/Student Ed., or Office 2003 Student/Teacher Ed. |
Office 2007 Professional, or Office 2003 Professional |
| Apple (Macintosh) | Office 2008 Home/Student Ed. |
Office 2008 Home/Student Ed. |
Necessary Office Components
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are the components of Microsoft Office you will use most in your UCSF career.
Microsoft Windows Editions of Office
See What's in the Office Editions? for details on the various Office choices for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
Apple Macintosh Editions of Office
Be aware that the vast majority of our faculty use Windows computers, and any submitted work you generate on your Apple computer must be made available in a Windows Office 2007 readable format. Compatibility issues arise in the areas of font selection, use of special symbols and characters (such as “curly quotation marks”), and file/document naming conventions.
See the Office:Mac 2008 site at Microsoft.com for details, especially "Best Practices for Working with Windows."
Caution: Service Pack and Critical Updates Required
Your computer should also have the most recent service pack and all critical updates for Office installed.
Updates for these products may be obtained from Microsoft Update or Office Update (Windows users), or from Mactopia Security Patches (Apple/Macintosh users).
Each edition of Office has dozens of updates and security patches since its initial release, be sure to use the free "Office Update" tool (above) to keep your installation current.
Warning: all available Office security updates, patches, and service packs should be applied to your computer before you begin your studies at UCSF.
Versions of Microsoft Office, “Office 2007”
Microsoft released Office 2007 with the "Windows Vista" operating system.
The 2007 edition is substantially different from previous versions of Office. Office 2007 uses new menus and "ribbon" tools, and it uses new naming formats for documents/files; for example, .docx (instead of .doc) for Word documents.
If you have Office 2003, you must obtain and use the Compatibility Pack to access 2007 documents:
Required Supplements for Microsoft Office
Windows users must obtain and install the following supplements to their copies of Office:
- For Office 2003 -
Compatibility Pack for Office 2003 - For Office 2007 -
Save as PDF or XPS Add-in for Office 2007
Microsoft Office Is Not Provided
Unfortunately, we do not provide Microsoft Office for you, so you are responsible for purchasing it. Be sure to take advantage of academic pricing if possible. You should be able to acquire the Home/Student edition of Office 2007 for less than $150.00.
Older Versions of Microsoft Office
If you have versions of Microsoft Office older than our specifications, you must upgrade to meet UCSF security requirements.
Office XP (a.k.a. Office 2002), Office 2000, Office 97, and Office 95 are all older versions with compromised security needing immediate upgrade or replacement.
Other "Office" Software
Other "Office" or "Office-compatible" packages may be installed on your computer, but they are not accepted as substitutes for the UCSF requirements. Be aware that WordPerfect and Works are not components of Microsoft Office.
Resources/Links
Home Page for these documents
UCSF Campus Resources
- UCSF School of Nursing - http://nurseweb.ucsf.edu
- UCSF Technology Store ("The Source") -
http://www.campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/techstore, telephone (415) 476-5062 - UCSF University Store (Bookstore/Supplies) -
http://www.bookstore.ucsf.edu - UCSF Office of Academic and Administrative Information Systems (OAAIS)
a.k.a. Information Technology Services (ITS) - http://its.ucsf.edu - UCSF Campus Library - http://www.library.ucsf.edu
Revised: Sept. 2009
© Copyright 2009 University of California Regents, All Rights Reserved.