Good morning Mike,

Thanks for reaching out and for your question.

It's not necessary to do everything the instructor does to learn the material in our courses, however many students do prefer to follow along and complete any optional course exercises.

With that in mind, each course has a “Course Materials” section on it's homepage that details the requirements needed for students to follow along and do the same exercises as instructor using the same version of the software the instructor does.

That said, below is a quick list of our most popular courses today, the version of software used in those courses, and what Rockwell's lists as tested and working Windows Operating Systems for those versions of their software:.

PLC Basics:

This course uses Rockwell's free version of RSLogix Micro v8.3 which Rockwell states supports Windows XP Pro SP3 32-bit, as well as Windows Vista, 7, & 8, both HOME and PRO versions. And while not supported, the instructor also uses it on Windows 10.

Nano Basics:

This course uses Rockwell's free CCW v10 software which Rockwell states supports Windows 7, 8 & 10, PRO version only. While version 4 of CCW does support Windows XP SP3 32bit, the look and feel of the software has changed some from version 4 to 10.

PAC Basics:

This course covers both RSLogix 5000 and Studio 5000. According to Rockwell's website, RSLogix 5000 v20 supports Windows XP PRO SP3 32bit, as well as Windows Vista Business, Windows 7 Home and Pro, and Windows 10 Pro.

PVP Basics:

This course uses Rockwell's FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition 8.0, which Rockwell states supports Windows XP PRO SP3 32bit, Vista Home and Business, and Windows 7 & 8 Pro.

ViewSE Basics:

This course uses Rockwell's FactoryTalk View Studio Site Edition 9.0, which Rockwell states supports Windows 7, 8 & 10, all PRO versions only. Note that while ViewSE version 8.1 is said to support Windows XP Pro SP3 32bit, the samples provided in the course are made with 9.0, and can't be imported into version 8.1.

Source:

The above version support information was taken from Rockwell's Compatibility website which at the time of this writing can be accessed using this link: https://compatibility.rockwellautomation.com/Pages/home.aspx

Hope this helps,

Shawn Tierney,
Instructor, The Automation School