MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Java Runtime Environment

Important note for Mac users: You must have OS X version 10.4 (aka “Tiger”) or later to run Lighthouse Trader, because earlier versions of OS X will not run the required version of Java.

Before you can download and run Lighthouse Trader, you must install the Java runtime environment (free!) on your PC. Version 1.5 or later will work fine. The easiest way to do this is to visit www.java.com, click on the “Download Now” link, and follow the on-screen instructions. Click the more link at the end of this paragraph if you want more detailed help, or if you encounter problems while installing the Java runtime environment.  > more 

If you plan on developing your own Java extensions to Lighthouse Trader using the Lightspeed™ API, you will need to install the Java J2SE 5.0 SDK (software development kit). Version 5.0 or later should work. This can be freely obtained from www.javasoft.com There should be a download link near the upper right corner of this page. If you install the J2SE SDK, you do not need to separately install the Java runtime environment as it is an integral part of the SDK.

Your PC

You will want to use a fairly up-to-date PC, in terms of CPU speed. Although Lighthouse Trader should run on older slower PCs, you will appreciate the improved performance that a faster PC can give you. Lighthouse Trader ran just fine on a 1 gigahertz Windows PC. A 2.0GHz PC is preferred, but not required.

You should have a minimum of 512MB of RAM (main memory). 1 gigabyte is preferred.

You will need at least 1-2 gigabytes of free disk space. This is primarily for Lighthouse Trader’s database. This assumes you will be loading approximately five years of historical data for the AMEX, NASDAQ, and NYSE exchanges.

Because Lighthouse Trader is a “pure Java™ application,” it should run on Windows, Linux, and the Mac, or any other platform that supports Java. It has been tested on Windows and Suse Linux 9.0. Because of limited resources, Lighthouse Trader cannot be tested on all possible platforms. Please let us know of any issues you encounter on other platforms and we will try to help you through them.

Mac users, remember that you must have Mac OS X 10.4 (aka "Tiger") or later installed on your Mac in order to run the required version of Java.

Internet Connection

You will need an internet connection. Preferably broadband, but this is not an absolute requirement. The initial download of software and data can be quite large, running as much as several megabytes for the software, and even more for the data if you choose to purchase extensive historical data. However, after the initial setup, you will typically need to download only about 350KB per day for the daily data required by Lighthouse Trader.  This assumes you will be loading data for the AMEX, INDEX, NASDAQ, and
NYSE exchanges.

IMPORTANT: Lighthouse Trader will not run without an internet connection. You must
have an internet connection to do anything in Lighthouse Trader, including charting, scanning, etc.