Resources to Get Started in Second Life & Computer Hardware Needed

Upon arriving at Second Life.com and starting a new account, which is free, one ends up on Orientation Island. There, you are given a basic, hands on tutorial about setting up your avatar, moving around, and interacting with objects. You can then go to Help Island and pick up some free clothing, and other objects like things to build with.

But there is more to learn and it does take some time and patience. The pinnacle I would think, is to have a person experience in SL right there with you while setting up. But there are many online resources that are great so I will list a few of them:

Second Life Wiki
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Getting_started_in_Second_Life

Downloadable Quick Start Guide from SecondLife.com
http://static-secondlife-com.s3.amazonaws.com/downloads/Second_Life_Quickstart.pdf

Second Life FAQ
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Second_Life_FAQ

Once you master the basics and are ready to start building, this non-online resource
that can be purchased at Amazon (or many other places) is quite useful. Building is a
whole new world in comparison to cruising around in SL. And, it is really fun and interesting.

This is a book called: Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470171146/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

System Requirements to Use Second Life

This page at http://www.secondlife.com/ has the requirements needed to run in Second Life.

http://secondlife.com/support/sysreqs.php

If you are buying a new computer and taking yours in for a graphics upgrade, I would recommend at least a 1 gig graphics (video) card which is more than the minimum. Refer your tech person to the link above though and this should provide adequate explanation. Or, refer them to me.

I welcome questions about SL from Wyoming small business owners @ matkins2@uwyo.edu.

I certainly don't know everything, but day by day I am picking this up. Check out Bronco's new hair and clothes as he is standing in front of a fountain in New Orleans Square of Mouse World. Whoa, ready for something formal...