Accessing software via Remote Desktop
The College has a wide range of software available via Windows Remote Desktop. This service enables you to access applications without having to install or license the software on your local computer. The applications run in a virtual desktop hosted on the College servers. The main advantages of using this system are:
- The hardware and software is centrally supported therefore offering service resilience and a formal backup procedure.
- It allows fast access to a wide range pre-installed software.
- Increased availability of software (by eliminating potential software licensing problems associated with installing software on computers that are not owned by the College).
- Enables access to software from remote locations (provided you have an internet connection and appropriate remote desktop connection software, your virtual desktop can be accessed from anywhere).
Most of the software that is commonly used by Nuffield College academics can be found on the academic Remote Desktop server (nuff-eigg.nuff.ox.ac.uk).
Instructions for connecting to the Remote Desktop server for Windows users
Instructions for connecting to the Remote Desktop server for Mac users​
IMPORTANT - Please store the data you are working on in your Documents folder.
Installing additional software
If you find the software you require for your work is not available, please contact us and we will assess its suitability to install it for you. Requests for additional software should be emailed to it@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
Please note however that we are not able to install Dropbox, Skydrive or Google Drive clients, nor are we able to install Skype or MSN on the remote desktop servers, as those packages have not been designed to work in a multi-user environment.
The Compute server
Software can also be found on our Compute server. Its use is restricted to processing large datasets and longer-running or complex simulations. Matlab, STATA and R are among the packages available.