The Ferns (Filicopsida) of the British Isles

L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz

Interactive keys and information retrieval

Which program should I use?

If your computer uses Windows, we recommend using Intkey rather than NaviKey. Both programs are easy to use, but Intkey has many extra features that will help you make accurate identifications, including:

• illustrations and notes to help you understand the characters;
• advice on the best characters to use;
• automatic recovery from errors;
• easy ways to confirm or reject an identification;
• direct access to illustrations of taxa;
• diagnostic descriptions;
• differences between taxa.

Using Intkey

Intkey requires Windows 95/NT or later.

If Intkey (dated 5 September 2000 or later) is already installed on your computer, you can start the key.

To install the latest version of Intkey, run http://delta-intkey.com/win32/intk32.exe. With a broadband connection, installation takes about 1 minute. The size of the download is about 2MB, and the size of the installed program is also about 2MB.

Using NaviKey

NaviKey requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Version 1.5 or later, which is available for computers running Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X.

If Version 1.5 or later of the JRE is already installed on your computer, you can start the key.

To install the JRE, go to http://www.java.com/download (Windows, Linux, Solaris) or http://www.apple.com/java (Mac OS X). With a broadband connection, installing the JRE on Windows takes about 2 minutes. The size of the download is about 7MB for Windows, 18MB for Linux and Solaris, and 80MB for Mac OS X. The size of the installed program is about 75MB on Windows.

The complete package is available on DVD.

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