The Department of Atmospheric Sciences recommends that all students purchase and maintain a laptop with the Windows operating system. Since many of our courses require specific software packages that run only on Windows, and because our lab machines use Windows exclusively, students with a personal Windows laptop will have the necessary tools and technology to succeed in the classroom and at home. Since meteorology and climatology projects often have unique storage and data processing needs, we recommend a minimum of an Intel Core i5 processor, 8 Gb of RAM, and a 500 Gb hard drive, though a more powerful processor, substantially more RAM, and a larger hard drive with the latest version of Windows will support a better experience for everyone. We welcome your questions regarding these recommendations at weather@unca.edu.
