Software Updates
Browser Downloads
Plug-ins are software applications that help your browser read certain types of files, such as audio, video, PDF and others. If your browser needs a plug-in that you don’t have, it will tell you.
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Acrobat Reader is the free software that lets you view and print .pdf files, which is a very common file format used by instructors at Loyola. We recommend that you have the latest version of Adobe Reader. Check for updates if your version is over a year old.
Java Plug-in
Blackboard Learn and Wimba Live Classroom require the latest version of Sun JRE 6.
Adobe Web Players
This page provides free downloads of all current Adobe Web players, including Macromedia Shockwave, Authorware, and Flash players.
Schubert IT PDF Browser Plugin
View PDF documents directly in your browser, print them, and save them to disk. Only for Safari, Firefox 4.0, Chrome (Chrome PDF Viewer deactivated) on Mac OS X 10.6 or later.
Audio and Video Players
QuickTime Player, Real Player, iTunes, VLC and Windows Media Player are all cross-platform media players that will play audio and video files.
Real Networks RealPlayer
iTunes
VLC
For Macintosh users having trouble playing .AVI video files, we recommend installing VLC.
File Format Conversion
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Windows
Installing the Compatibility Pack will enable Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, and Office 2003 users to be able to open, edit, and save files using the file formats new to Microsoft Office 2007.
Microsoft Office Open XML Format Converter for Mac
Installing the Open XML Converter will enable Mac users running Microsoft Office 2004 and Microsoft v. X to convert Microsoft Office 2007 files to a compatible format.
Viewers
If you do not have Microsoft Office on your computer, you will not be able to open a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document in Blackboard. You can download a free viewer that will allow you to open and print (not edit) the document. You do not need to download these viewers if you already have Microsoft Office installed on your computer. These viewers are only compatible on the Windows operating system.
