Windows 7 support
Revision as of 07:06, 14 October 2010 by Torley Linden (talk | contribs)
This question comes up a lot in the forums in varied forms, and this page is a stopgap to answer:
- Is the Second Life Viewer compatible with Windows 7?
- Does Second Life run on Windows 7?
- Can I use Second Life on Windows 7?
The answer is officially YES from Linden Lab, with the following details:
- The Second Life Viewer is supported on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7. What's the difference?
- The System Requirements page needs to be updated, since "Windows 7 (32-bit only)" has caused considerable confusion. Changes are pending in the queue behind other web updates. Yes, it sounds counterintuitive — dontcha wish it was as easy to change some text there as this wiki? ;)
- What "Windows 7 (32-bit only)" means on the System Requirements page is: the Second Life Viewer itself is a 32-bit executable. Relevant discussion with the pros and cons can be found on VWR-7716 and linked issues.
- Some of the most common problems reported with a "Viewer 2.x and Windows 7" system are due to non-Windows 7-specific reasons:
- Non-existent or outdated graphics card drivers. Be sure to update them — that's true for every version of Windows.
- If your hardware is underpowered to begin with and doesn't otherwise meet the System Requirements, the Viewer won't run well, or at all. For example, netbooks with "Windows 7 Starter" that have too slow a CPU or graphics card.