Although the School of Engineering and Applied Science has a computer lab for student use, we encourage students to have their own computer.

Buying a computer for college can be a stressful experience. Most students would like to have a computer that will last them all four (or five) undergraduate years. Miami University central IT Services provides general recommendations, but we recommend SEAS students acquire systems that meet or exceed their higher recommendation.

Although students may generally use whatever word processor they wish, faculty and staff use the Microsoft Office suite.

Our students generally work with Intel-based workstations running Microsoft Windows for most of their assignments. Students not planning on majoring in CSA should consider Windows-based workstations as finding equivalent software may be difficult to acquire. Some Computer Science and Systems Analysis courses are taught on Apple computers, however, and software used in these courses is generally more cross-platform, but most students in CSA purchase computers running Microsoft Windows.

Laptops can be very useful as well, and wireless ethernet (802.11b) is available in several areas including most of Benton Hall, the Engineering Building, Shriver Center Food Court, and King Library. Miami University is currently planning to expand wireless coverage throughout campus and residence halls and upgrade wireless ethernet to include 802.11g capabilities.

Although students may wish to buy some software used in courses, many titles used within our division are extremely expensive and may require special training to install. Please see our Supported Software list, which will link you to the manufacturers' pages. Unfortunately, SEAS-IT cannot offer support on student systems, but the central IT Services Support Desk can answer many questions students might have.