m2Advisor Setup System Requirements

System Summary and Requirements

Author: Anita Kleeberg 

m2Advisor application summary:

1. It is a Java graphical application, that runs on Windows XP or greater.

2. Requires a 32-bit Java Runtime Environment 6 or greater - this is usually (but not required to be) installed by our application install shield.

3. It integrates with Microsoft Office Word and Excel for compliance documentation and general reporting - any version of Office, from 2003 onwards is acceptable.

4. Printed reports are PDF rendered, so it requires a reasonably recent version of Adobe Reader (free version) or Adobe Acrobat to be installed.

5. It uses the installed mail client to compose emails with attachments - allowing advisers to email out their client's reports and compliance documentation. It currently is compatible with MS Outlook, Windows Mail/Outlook Express, Mozilla Thunderbird and Lotus Notes mail clients - so requires one of these to be installed.

6. All its comms are performed with our M2 servers over HTTPS (port 443) except when a proxy server is used (which is also supported). We can provide a list of hosts that it requires access to also if thats necessary.

7. The application automatically updates itself when it detects a new version being available, and downloads new/updated binary files, then restarts itself. The application update downloads files over port 80 from an M2 server (as opposed to port 443).

8. When M2 Advisor talks to the local Office and Mail apps, it does so via DLLs containing Microsoft API calls, which in some cases use the clipboard for processing information. These DLLs can also be updated occasionally, during an application update sequence. In one environment we had installed on this caused the virus scanning software to get upset and disallow the new DLL.

Quick Requirements Summary:

1. Java 6 or greater JRE (32 bit only, not 64-bit)
2. Windows XP or greater
3. MS Office (Word, Excel) 2003 +
4. Adobe Reader X or greater, or Adobe Acrobat
5. MS Outlook or Windows Mail or Outlook Express or Mozilla Thunderbird or Lotus Notes mail client required