and RM Educational software products
RM is committed to helping its customer’s transition to the new Windows Vista™ operating system. This
document details how current RM software products support Windows Vista.
What is Windows Vista™ and what will it mean for my school?
Windows Vista is a new operating system created by Microsoft.
Key changes within Windows Vista are:
o A new user interface
o New navigation tools
o Some increased security
o IE7 (also available for XP)
o Speech recognition enables users to interact with their computer by
training it to respond to their voice
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Becta Guidance to schools - A BECTA report has recommended that
“Whilst the new features of Vista add value, there are no “must have” features in the product that
would justify early deployment in schools. The technical, financial and organisational challenges
associated with early deployment currently make this a high risk strategy. Early deployment is
therefore strongly recommended against.”
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Training of staff within the school will need to be considered in order to ensure effective use.
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Software compatibility - Some current versions of software titles used within the school may not be
Vista compatible. Due to core changes within Windows itself, there are likely to be some casualties.
Schools are advised to check with the individual suppliers to see if they can run their favourite
software titles on Windows Vista.
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Higher minimum specification – Windows Vista requires a higher specification of PC than XP. The
following is recommended (Please check the Windows Vista website for up-to-date information):
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Recommended Specification for Windows Vista
1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1.
1 GB of system memory.
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)2,
Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
DVD-ROM Drive3.
Are RM software products compatible with the new Windows Vista operating system?
RM has always worked hard to maintain compatibility with the latest version of the Windows operating
system. Now that Windows Vista is available we are:
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Testing our products fully on Windows Vista to understand any issues
Identifying what development updates are required
Validating our new versions to ensure that our products will work with Windows Vista
At this point, we are able to confirm that the majority of our software titles will continue to be available for
the Windows Vista platform but there may be some casualties. Over the next few months we will be
working to make any required changes to our applications to meet the new requirements for Windows
Vista. See table below for more detail.
and RM Educational software products
When will RM software products be made available for Windows Vista?
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Windows Vista was released just before Christmas
It takes time to test and validate products properly
All educational software suppliers are in the same position
Once testing is complete there are likely to be some development updates required, which take time
Some of our software solutions (e.g. Window Box) include educational titles and components from
other software suppliers who have yet to release Windows Vista versions
RM has a large portfolio of educational software titles and some will require updating. Each product will
have a different release schedule and will be made available for Windows Vista as soon as it has been
fully validated. We aim to release new Windows Vista versions of our software during the second half of
2007.
In the meantime, if you do choose to install Windows Vista, we cannot guarantee that our products or any
further software that you may have installed will continue to work. We therefore strongly recommend that
you do not currently upgrade your existing PCs to Windows Vista.
Will RM continue to support its software portfolio for previous and current platforms?
RM will continue to support its software portfolio on current platforms for the foreseeable future.
RM Software products compatibility table:
This table will be updated with the latest status of products and information on a regular basis. Please
return to get the most up to date information.
PRODUCT
Fully Compatible
CPD Workshop
DiscoverAlive 11-14
Easiteach 3.3
COMMENTS
Warning messages during installation regarding Windows Media
Player can be ignored.
Easiteach Animated Books
Easiteach Content EAL
Easiteach Content Games
Easiteach Content Literacy
Easiteach Content Maths
Easiteach Content Primary
Geography
Easiteach Content Science
Easiteach Content Secondary
Geography
Easiteach Dance Mat
Multimedia Science School v2
RM Snapshot Numeracy v1 SR1
RM Maths v4.1
RM Starting Graph v1.4
Textease CT Studio
RM Information Magic v2
Sonica Spanish
Fully Compatible but requires a custom install*
ICT Alive v1.7
Requires use of MSD to install.
RM Colour Magic v3.004
Have to be logged in as administrator
and RM Educational software products
PRODUCT
COMMENTS
Mainly compatible but includes some minor issues
Easiteach Content History
Installs but some of the sound files do not play.
Easiteach Content Early Steps
Installs but the sound files do not play. Do not recommend
Literacy
installing on Windows Vista at this time.
Living Library
Minor display issues with IE7.
RM Number Magic
Installs but unable to insert pictures from the RM topic bank onto
the spreadsheet and some Welsh dialogue messages are being
displayed in English.
Do not recommend installing on Windows Vista at this time
Easilearn The Island
RM Talking First Word
RM Window Box
Successmaker
Does not work with Office 2007
Refer to technical note
MathsAlive – MathsAlive requires Kaleidos VTLE to run, which is still under testing. Further information
will be added as soon as it is available.
* Please see the knowledge library on www.rm.com/support for more information.
Please note: this information is based on the most current versions of each product on the current version
of Window Vista Ultimate and Home as at March 07. Previous versions of RM software have not been
tested.
and RM Educational software products