Windows

 Mac

Operating System

Windows 10+

Catalina, Big Sur, or Monterey (Microsoft only provides Office 365 support for the 3 latest versions of MacOS.)

SPSS requires macOS Catalina 10.15 or Big Sur 11

Processor

4-Cores+, 2Ghz+

4-Cores+, 2Ghz+

Memory (RAM)

16GB+

16GB+

Web Browser

Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge

Chrome or Firefox

Office Suite

Microsoft Office 365

(RRU offers MS Office 365 free to all staff, faculty, associate faculty and students that are actively studying in a credit program. This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

Microsoft Office 365

(RRU offers MS Office 365 free to all staff, faculty, associate faculty and students that are actively studying in a credit program. This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

Antivirus

MalwareBytes

MalwareBytes

Internet Service

5Mbps Download / 5Mbps Upload - https://speed.cloudflare.com/

Please note that it is strongly recommended that you have access to Internet from home. Expecting to access your course from your work internet or a public network like a library or coffee shop is not practical due to the high volume and tight deadlines that you can expect in some courses

5Mbps Download / 5Mbps Upload - https://speed.cloudflare.com/

Please note that it is strongly recommended that you have access to Internet from home. Expecting to access your course from your work internet or a public network like a library or coffee shop is not practical due to the high volume and tight deadlines that you can expect in some courses

Peripherals

Headset with microphone

Webcam

Headset with microphone

Webcam

E-Mail Capability

Access to e-mail through an e-mail program or web-based e-mail system - Recommended: Gmail

Please see our information regarding government and Microsoft accounts.

Access to e-mail through an e-mail program or web-based e-mail system - Recommended: Gmail

Please see our information regarding government and Microsoft accounts.

Recommended Hardware when in residence

• Network Cable (not required but useful, 10-20ft)

• Small Portable Printer (helpful, but not necessary)

• USB Flash Drive

• No Routers please

• Network Cable (not required but useful, 10-20ft)

• Small Portable Printer (helpful, but not necessary)

• USB Flash Drive

• No Routers please

• Apple AV Adapter if you need to connect to an external display.

Other*

• A cloud storage location can help keep things organized.  Many services available. OneDrive has Canadian data center and is provided free with Microsoft Office 365. (This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

• A cloud storage location can help keep things organized.  Many services available. iCloud for Mac can be useful as well. OneDrive has Canadian data center and is provided free with Microsoft Office 365. (This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)
   

Mobile Devices*

• (Although tablets have made great leaps in the past few years, tablets still have limitations that may make using it as your only connection to Royal Roads difficult.  Using some of the apps below will assist you in access Royal Roads resources however we still recommend using a desktop or laptop computer for the bulk of your RRU studies.  If you would like to discuss this further please contact us by telephone and we would be pleased to discuss this with you)

• For the latest list of Moodle apps that work with Moodle, please visit here.

• The free Mail for Android or Mail for iOS apps that come with the devices will work fine for accessing your RRU email if you want to keep it separate

• Microsoft Office for Mobile (free, iOS, Android) apps provide full functionality with a free RRU Microsoft Office 365 account. (This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

Windows

 Macintosh

Operating System

Recommended: Windows 8 or higher

(Chromebook not recommended as some external tools do not have Chromebook related apps)

(Linux not recommended unless extremely familiar with it's usage or Windows Emulator)

(See comment below about mobile devices)

Recommended: One of the 3 most recent releases (Microsoft Office 365 can only guarantee support on the current release of Mac OS, plus two previous versions. Older versions may work, but may have issues)
(please see Known Issues)

(IOS not recommended as some external tools do not have iOS related apps, See comment below about mobile devices)

Processor

Recommended: 1.6 GHz or faster, 2-core

Recommended: Intel processor

Memory (RAM)

Recommended: 4 GB+

Recommended: 4 GB+

Internet Browser

Recommended: Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge

Please note that Internet Explorer is no longer supported.

Recommended: Chrome or Firefox 

Please note that Internet Explorer is no longer supported.

Office Suite

Required: 
Microsoft Office 2016 or higher.
(RRU offers MS Office 365 free to all staff, faculty, associate faculty and students that are actively studying in a credit program, This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

Required: 
Microsoft Office 2014 or higher 
(RRU offers MS Office 365 free to all staff, faculty, associate faculty and students that are actively studying in a credit program, This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

Antivirus

Recommended: See Top Antivirus for Windows

Recommended: See Top Antivirus for Mac

Anti-Malware

Recommended: Windows Defender (free) or MalwareBytes

Recommended: MalwareBytes

Internet Service

Recommended: 
DSL, Cable, or Satellite with at least 2mbps upload speed
(the faster the better)

Please note that it is strongly recommended that you have access to Internet from home. Expecting to access your course from your work internet or a public network like a library or coffee shop is not practical due to the high volume and tight deadlines that you can expect in some courses

Recommended: 
DSL, Cable, or Satellite with at least 2mbps upload speed
(the faster the better) 

Please note that it is strongly recommended that you have access to Internet from home. Expecting to access your course from your work internet or a public network like a library or coffee shop is not practical due to the high volume and tight deadlines that you can expect in some courses

Peripherals

Microphone: Recommend headset with microphone to limit background noise

Webcam: Recommend 320X240 VGA resolution minimum

Microphone: Recommend headset with microphone to limit background noise

Webcam: Recommend 320X240 VGA resolution minimum

E-Mail Capability

Access to e-mail through an e-mail program or web-based e-mail system - Recommended: Gmail

Please see our information regarding government and Microsoft accounts.

Access to e-mail through an e-mail program or web-based e-mail system - Recommended: Gmail

Please see our information regarding government and Microsoft accounts.

Recommended Hardware when in residence

• Network Cable (not required but useful, 10-20ft)

• Small Portable Printer (helpful, but not necessary)

• USB Flash Drive

• No Routers please

• Network Cable (not required but useful, 10-20ft)

• VGA adaptor to allow your MAC to connect to the classroom projectors

• Small Portable Printer (helpful, but not necessary)

• USB Flash Drive

• No Routers please

Other*

• A cloud storage location can help keep things organised.  Many services available. OneDrive has Canadian data center and is provided free with Microsoft Office 365. (This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)

• A cloud storage location can help keep things organised.  Many services available. iCloud for Mac can be useful as well. OneDrive has Canadian data center and is provided free with Microsoft Office 365. (This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)
   

Mobile Devices*

• (Although tablets have made great leaps in the past few years, tablets still have limitations that may make using it as your only connection to Royal Roads difficult.  Using some of the apps below will assist you in access Royal Roads resources however we still recommend using a desktop or laptop computer for the bulk of your RRU studies.  If you would like to discuss this further please contact us by telephone and we would be pleased to discuss this with you)

• For the latest list of Moodle apps that work with Moodle, please visit here.

• The free Mail for Android or Mail for iOS apps that come with the devices will work fine for accessing your RRU email if you want to keep it separate

• Microsoft Office for Mobile (free, iOS, Android) apps provide full functionality with a free RRU Microsoft Office 365 account (This is not available to Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) Students)