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POV-Ray can be used under Windows 9x/NT/2000, Apple Power PC, x86 Linux, UNIX and other platforms. The latest versions of the necessary files are available on our web site at »http://www.povray.org/ and through various CD distributions. See section "Where to Find POV-Ray Files" for more info. Dos, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, SunOS and Amiga are no longer supported. If your platform is not supported and you are proficient in compiling source code programs written in C/C++, then you may like to retrieve the source for POV-Ray from our website and attempt to built it yourself. Note that the POV-Team provides absolutely no support for building POV-Ray from the source code, especially on platforms that we do not officially support.
The Windows version runs under Windows 95, Windows 98, NT and 2000. Required hardware and software: Minimum - 486/100 with 16mb RAM and Windows 95. Disk space - 20 megabytes
Required POV-Ray files: User archive POVWIN35.EXE - a self-extracting archive containing the program, sample scenes, standard include files and documentation. This file may be split into smaller files for easier downloading. Check the directory of your download or ftp site to see if other files are needed.
Recommended: Pentium 200 or Pentium II with 32mb and Windows 95 or NT4. SVGA display preferably with high color or true color ability and drivers installed.
Note: accelerated graphics hardware will not improve performance. Nor will MMX or 3D Now. These technologies are not aimed at raytracing.
Optional: The source code is not needed to use POV-Ray. It is provided for the curious and adventurous. POVWIN_S.ZIP --- The C/C++ source code for POV-Ray for Windows, contains generic parts and Windows specific parts. It does not include sample scenes, standard include files and documentation so you should also get the executable archive as well. POV-Ray can only be compiled using C/C++ compilers that create 32-bit Windows applications. We used to support Watcom 10.5a or higher, and Borland 4.52/5.0 compilers. We currently only support VC++ v6 and the Intel C++ Compiler versions 5 and 5. Due to the former support of Borland/Watcom, it is possible that with a little effort you could get the code to compile under them (the Windows code uses no MFC). Note that no matter which compiler you use, you will need to obtain the HTML Help API toolkit from Microsoft's web site (unless you already have it installed). This toolkit contains header files and libraries required to compile POV-Ray for Windows.
Required hardware and software: A 386 or better CPU and at least 8 meg of RAM. About 6 meg disk space to install and 2-10 meg or more beyond that for working space. A text editor capable of editing plain ASCII text files. Graphic file viewer capable of viewing PPM, TGA or PNG formats. Any recent (1994 onwards) Linux kernel and support for ELF format binaries. POV-Ray for Linux is not in a.out-format. ELF libraries libc.so.5, libm.so.5 and one or both of libX11.so.6 or libvga.so.1.
Required POV-Ray files: POVLINUX.TGZ or POVLINUX.TAR.GZ - archive containing an official binary for each SVGALib and X-Windows modes. Also contains sample scenes, standard include files and documentation in plain ASCII text.
Recommended: Pentium 200 or Pentium II (faster the better) 32 meg or more RAM. SVGA display preferably with VESA interface and high color or true color ability. If you want display, you'll need either SVGALib or X-Windows.
Note: accelerated graphics hardware will not improve performance.
Optional: The source code is not needed to use POV-Ray. It is provided for the curious and adventurous. POVUNI_S.TAR.GZ or POVUNI_S.TGZ - The C/C++ source code for POV-Ray for Linux. Contains generic parts and Linux specific parts. It does not include sample scenes, standard include files and documentation so you should also get the executable archive as well. Requires the GNU C/C++ compiler and (optionally) the X include files and libraries.
The Macintosh version runs under Apple's Mac OS operating system version 8.6 (it may run on 8.1 and 8.5 as well, but we do not support POV-Ray 3.5 running on Mac OS 8.1 and 8.5) or newer with CarbonLib 1.0.4 or newer installed. Note that we no longer support 68K based Macintosh computers. POV-Ray 3.5 requires a Power Macintosh!
A Power Macintosh is any iMac, iBook, Mac G3, Mac G4, Mac G5, Cube, any older Mac with a four digit model number (i.e. 5200, 6300, 7200, 8100, 9600) and any third party computer running Mac OS 8.1 or later. Mac OS X 10.2 or later are supported but for maximum render speed it is not recommended to use Mac OS X.
Required hardware and software: Power Macintosh computer with at least 16 MB of free RAM. Mac OS 8.6 or newer with CarbonLib 1.0.4 or newer installed CarbonLib 1.0.4. About 20 MB free disk space to install and an additional 5-10 MB free space for your own creations (scenes and images). Graphic file viewer utility capable of viewing Mac PICT, GIF and perhaps TGA and PNG formats (the shareware GraphicConverter applications is good.)
Required POV-Ray files: POVPMAC.SIT or POVPMAC.HQX - a StuffIt archive containing the native Power Macintosh application, sample scenes, standard include files and documentation.
Recommended: Power Macintosh G3 with 64 MB or more of free RAM. Mac OS 9.0.4 or newer with CarbonLib 1.6 (works with Mac OS 8.6 or newer) to access all features of the Mac frontend. CarbonLib 1.6 is available for free download from Apple in the software update section of the Apple website. Color monitor with millions of colors.
Optional: The source code is not needed to use POV-Ray. It is provided for the curious and adventurous. POV-Ray can be compiled using Metrowerks CodeWarrior Pro 7.2 (for other compilers no project or make files are provided). Read the file "How to compile!" before compiling. There is no other support or help for compiling the source code! POVMACS.SIT or POVMACS.HQX - The full C source code for POV-Ray for Macintosh. Contains generic parts and Macintosh specific parts. It does not include sample scenes, standard include files and documentation so you should also get the executable archive as well.
Because Unix runs on a wide variety of hardware and CPUs, the POV-Team cannot provide executable versions for every type of Unix. We distribute generic Unix source code in portable ANSI C/C++ source code. You will need a C/C++ compiler and (optionally) the X include files and libraries and knowledge of how to use it. Although we provide source code for generic Unix systems, we do not provide technical support on how to compile the program. Required: POVUNI_S.TGZ or POVUNI_S.TAR.GZ - The C/C++ source code for POV-Ray for UNIX. Contains generic parts and Unix/Linux specific parts. It does not include sample scenes, standard include files and documentation so you should also get an executable archive for another platform or get POVUNI_D.TGZ or POVUNI_D.TAR.GZ which contains the sample scenes, standard include files and documentation. A C/C++ compiler for your computer and KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO USE IT. Graphic file viewer capable of viewing PPM, TGA or PNG formats. A text editor capable of editing plain ASCII text files.
Recommended: Math co-processor. 8 meg or more RAM.
Optional: X Windows if you want to be able to display as you render. You will need the X-Windows include files as well. If you're not familiar with compiling programs for X-Windows you may need some help from someone who is knowledgeable at your installation because the X include files and libraries are not always in a standard place.
Each executable archive includes full documentation for POV-Ray itself as well as specific instructions for using POV-Ray with your type of platform. All versions of the program share the same ray-tracing features like shapes, lighting and textures. In other words, an MS-Dos-PC can create the same pictures as a Cray supercomputer as long as it has enough memory. The user will want to get the executable that best matches their computer hardware. In addition to the files listed above, the POV-Team also distributes the user documentation in two alternate forms. Note this is the same documentation distributed in other archives but in a different format. This may be especially useful for MS-Dos or Unix users because their documentation is plain ASCII text only. POVUSER.PDF - Tutorial and Reference documentation in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader available for Windows 3.x, Windows 95/98/NT, Mac and some Unix systems. POVHTML.ZIP - Archive containing Tutorial and Reference documentation in html for viewing with any internet browser.
See the section "Where to Find POV-Ray Files" for where to find these files. You can contact those sources to find out what the best version is for you and your computer.
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