Second Life Viewers

One thing that I have learned in my first year in Second Life is that you need two things to have a good experience. The first is a computer that exceeds the minimum specifications for Second Life. Meeting them specs works, but the experience isn't what I would call good if you just meet them. The second is you need to find a viewer, the software used to actually run and interact in Second Life, that works well for you.

There are basically three types of viewers you can use in Second Life today. You can use the official viewer from Linden Labs. This viewer is often called viewer 2 or viewer 3 by residents of Second Life. This is the only viewer officially supported by the people who make Second Life and it tends to see the new features developed by Linden Labs before other viewers. The second and third types of viewers you can use both fall under the category of Third Party Viewers (TPVs). These viewers come in two variety's based on either the newest official viewer or based on the old version 1 viewer from Linden Labs. You can find a listing of some TPVs (TPV List) on the Second Life website. This listing is not however an exhaustive listing, nor does it represent an official listing of Second Life viewers. Two viewers worth looking at that are not on the official TPV list are the Exodus Viewer and Nirans Viewer.

I suggest that you read what you can about different viewers, on this blog and others, and try different viewers to get the best Second Life experience. Even viewers that are very similar can often work quite differently, and before better or worse for individuals. 

Over the next week or so I will be reviewing several viewers that I like and discussing what I think are some of the advantages and disadvantages of each.