Linden Lab Official:Alternate Viewers

Developer and Open Source
Terms and Information

• Contribution Agreement
  • Contribution Agreement FAQ
• LGPL 2.1 (Lesser General Public License)
• Viewer Licensing Program
• Policy on Third Party Viewers
  • Alternate Viewers
  • Third Party Viewer Policy and Directory FAQ
• API Terms of Use

What is an alternate Viewer?

The primary viewer for Second Life is SL Viewer, available on the main Second Life Downloads page. That page also links to the latest Viewer 2 Beta, the version next in line to become the next released Viewer.

The viewers below provide alternate means of accessing Second Life.

Note: If you experience problems using any of the viewers below, you may be asked to try to replicate the problem using the officially supported SL Viewer release.

Second Life Project Viewers

A Second Life Project Viewer is an early release from a Viewer development team that provides a preview of one or more new features. See the linked project pages for the status of the feature and instructions on how to provide feedback based on your use of the feature.

Windlight Region Settings

UPDATED! June 10, 2011 - Windlight Region Settings Project Viewer

Windlight Region Settings are controls that allow region managers to customize water, sky, and day cycle environment settings for their regions. To learn more about this feature, go to the Windlight Region Settings wiki page.

Installers: Windows | Macintosh | Linux

Search

UPDATED! May 26, 2011 - Search Project Viewer

The Search Project Viewer provides an early look for testing and feedback on the new Second Life search system. For more information, see the Search Project Viewer FAQ and read the Test Out New Search! blog post.

Installers: Windows | Macintosh | Linux

Mesh Import

Note: Use of the Mesh Import feature is currently restricted to the Aditi Test Grid, and is not accessible via the Main Grid. This restriction applies to both Project and Development viewers.

UPDATED Feb. 16, 2011 - Mesh Import Project Viewer

Mesh import is an upcoming feature that enables creators to model objects using external tools and then import them into Second Life. For more information, see Mesh.

Installers: Windows | Macintosh | Linux

Mesh Development Latest Build

Important: Development builds are untested, and while they are up-to-the-hour builds of work in progress, they are unsupported and potentially risky to use. For more information about this project, see Mesh.

Installers: <project>/latest.html All_Platforms

Second Life Development Viewer

The Second Life Development Viewer is the very latest build of features and fixes that are on the way to being in the next Beta release. Every build of the main development tree is made available for you to try as soon as it's built. The Snowstorm Project page has information on the process of creating these builds and how you can contribute to them as either a developer or a tester.

Latest Development Viewers:
Windows | Macintosh | Linux

Third-Party viewers

Many Second Life developers, outside of Linden Lab, offer customized Second Life viewers. Please note that Linden Lab does not support third-party viewers.

See Third Party Viewer Directory for a listing of third-party viewers created by developers who have certified that they comply with the Policy on Third Party Viewers.

Viewer 1.23

Viewer 1.23, last updated in 2009, is still available.

Note: Viewer 1.23 is no longer under development. Since it was last updated in 2009, there have been many features added to Second Life, some of which will not be available to you using this viewer.

Installers: Windows | Macintosh | Linux
Viewer 1.23 Quickstart Guide