Windows Vista

The latest versions of our Desktop software install and run under Windows Vista (32-bit). Versions of our software prior to 11.0 are not compatible with Windows Vista.

Windows Vista Home edition has not been tested and is therefore not supported. There are known issues trying to set up a multi-computer E-Notebook environment under Vista home.

Czech Windows XP

Versions of ChemDraw prior to 11.0.1 will crash when launched under the Czech version of Windows XP. The 11.0.1 update is available to 11.0 users from the Support Downloads page.

MS Office 2003

The current version is compatible with MS Office 2003. Versions of our software prior to 9.0 were developed and released well before MS Office 2003. Versions 8.0 or less cannot install our Add-Ins to Microsoft Office 2003. Prior to 9.0, the CombiChem and Purchasing for Excel Add-Ins and our Word Add-Ins were not compatible with MS Office 2003. It is possible to get the 8.0 ChemDraw and ChemSAR for Excel Add-Ins working with MS Office 2003. Please see this tech note for details.

Copying and pasting into MS Office 2003 applications and OLE Editing appear to work when using our 8.0 software.

MS Office 2007

The current version of our software only supports copying and pasting/OLE operations with MS Office 2007 applications. Excel Add-Ins and E-Notebook are not supported for use with MS Office 2007 at this time.

64-bit Windows

The current version of our software was not designed or tested under 64 bit Windows, so it is not officially supported. After some cursory testing, the only issue we found is that the 64 bit Internet Explorer requires 64 bit add-ins and ActiveX controls. That means that the ChemDraw and Chem3D ActriveX controls do not currently work with the 64 bit IE. As Windows XP 64 bit still includes a 32 bit IE we recommend you use this version if you require the use of our ActiveX controls.

Gaussian 03W C.02

Chem3D cannot link with G03W C.02. Gaussian has removed the way Chem3D links to Gaussian (via the GXX-Exec.Dat file). We hope to address this Gaussian change in a future update of Chem3D.

Windows XP SP2

Windows XP Service Pack 2 includes security features that automatically block active content. This means that by default, Internet Explorer blocks ChemDraw and Chem3D ActiveX controls. To activate them, you must choose the option to "Allow Blocked Content" from the "Information bar" appearing under the Address bar notifying you that the security settings have blocked some of the content of the page. See this example picture for details.

IE does not remember this information, so you must repeat the activation each time you access the page.

MS Office XP (2002)

With the release of ChemOffice 2002 (version 7.0), our Word and Excel Add-Ins will now install and work with Microsoft Office XP. Versions prior to the 7.0 release are not compatible with Office XP. ChemOffice Ultra users please note that BioAssay Manager is only compatible with Microsoft Office 2000.

Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2-6.0

Microsoft Internet Explorer Service Pack 2 (5.5 SP2) and above, no longer support the Netscape Plugin architecture. According to Microsoft, future releases of Internet Explorer will also not support old plugins. Therefore ChemDraw 6.x and below and Chem3D 4.x and below Plugins are no longer compatible with IE 5.5 SP2 and above.

The latest ChemDraw Plugin 8.0 is compatible with IE 5.0 and above. The latest Chem3D Net plugin, v6.0.1, which is now available from our support downloads page as well as part of the ChemOffice Plugin, is also compatible.

Netscape for Windows

The latest ChemDraw Plugin (Windows) is compatible with Netscape 6.2.x -7.0.x. The latest ChemOffice Plugin, which installs both the ChemDraw and Chem3D Plugin is compatible with Netscape 6.2.x -7.0.x.

Windows XP

The latest versions of our software install and run under Windows XP. Versions of our software prior to 7.0 are not compatible with Windows XP.

Windows 2000

The latest versions of our software have been tested and work with Windows 2000. Versions of our software prior to 6.0 are not supported under Windows 2000, but we are also not aware of any conflicts with most older versions of our software and Windows 2000. We do know that the following software is not compatible with Windows 2000: ChemDraw 3.1, ChemOffice WebServer, and ChemOffice Ltd 3.1 or lower.

Windows Millennium (Windows Me)

The latest versions of our software no longer support Windows Me. The last version to support Windows Me was version 8.0. We are aware of one problem with an older version of ChemFinder and Windows Me. There is a problem with updating the structure field in ChemFinder 5.1.2 and below. This problem was fixed in version 6, 7, and 8.

Windows Emulation on a Macintosh

Our software has not been qualified, and is therefore not supported under Windows emulation software running on a Macintosh, like Parallels, VMWare Fusion, etc.

It should also be noted that we are not aware of any problems with our software running under those environments at this time.

MS Office 2008

For technical reasons, Microsoft removed the ability to retrieve the original chemical data in pictures pasted into Microsoft Word when they released Microsoft Office 2008 (if you copy and paste a structure in Word 2008, for example, into ChemDraw, you can't edit it).

CambridgeSoft has been in contact with Microsoft regarding this issue, and they are aware of the problem. Microsoft has an open case with Apple regarding their technical problems in correctly implementing this feature (Apple RADAR case #5815892).

Until Microsoft releases a patched version of Office 2008, we recommend that our users switch to a previous version of Microsoft Office where this problem does not occur otherwise, you will need to save the ChemBioDraw files as separate documents.

MacOS X 10.5 Leopard

Versions prior to the 11.0.1 update are not supported under MacOS 10.5. 11.0 users can download the latest version from the Support download site. If you have version 10 or less, please upgrade to the latest version.

Safari 3

Versions prior to the 11.0.1 update are not compatible with Safari 3.0. Please download the latest Plugin (or if you have an application, download the latest application which includes your Plugin) from the Support download site.

Intel Macs/Universal Binaries

The 11.0 goods are universal binaries, so we natively support Intel Mac (we also still natively support PowerPC as both basically are in the universal binary and the OS decides which one it will use).

Please note that the installer that puts the goods on the system is not a universal binary. This really should not cause any problems for most users as it is completely transparent. However, there are tools that can remove all PowerPC related code including the Rosetta translator from Intel Macs to save disk space. Since the installer will need some of this PowerPC related code, it won’t install. It bounces in the dock and then just goes away and nothing happens. If you experience this problem, you can reinstall the PowerPC framework (from the Apple OS DVD) and all should work.

Mozilla, FireFox and Netscape for Mac

The latest version of our Plugin supports Netscape 7.0.x, Mozilla 1.7.5 and above, and, FireFox 1.x

For users who have older versions of our Plugin, here is what we know:

MacOS X builds of Netscape 7.0 are required for the 10.0 version of the ChemDraw Plugin. Please note that MacOS X builds of Netscape 7.0 will run under MacOS 9.

With the release of the 9.0.1 update (available from the support download page) Mozilla 1.7.5 and above and FireFox 1.0.x and above on Mac OS X are supported.

The original 8.0 ChemDraw Plugin will crash Netscape 7.0 and Mozilla. Download the latest 8.0.x Plugin from our support download page.

Old Macintosh Application Issues

MacOS 9 and Chem3D 5.0 and less - Chem3D cannot save in the native Chem3D format under MacOS9. See the Chem3D Save FAQ for solution.

The Apple Navigation system extension can cause problems opening and saving files when opening from Windows disks. If you remove the extension the problem will not occur. See the Chem3D ReadMe file for full details.

The Minimize energy command in Chem3D 4.0 hangs Chem3D under MacOS 8.5. The workaround is to choose Molecular Dynamics or Compute Properties from the MM2 menu and then change the Job Type under the Job Type tab to Minimize Energy. The problem has also been fixed in Chem3D 5.0.

CS Chem3D version 3.1.2 or earlier running on a PowerPC with Modern Memory Manager turned On. Contact info@cambridgesoft.com to order the latest version of Chem3D, which is Power Mac native or Chem3D Plus 3.1 users can download a non-Power Mac native patch (version 3.1.3) here for free.

CS ChemDraw 2.1.3 and LaserWriter 8 printer driver. Update to the latest version of ChemDraw or use an older printer driver version.

CS ChemFinder 1.0 is incompatible with System 7.1. Update to the latest version of ChemFinder.

Hardware Compatibility Issues

We are not aware of any hardware compatibility issues with the latest versions of our software on any platform.

We have verified that our ChemOffice Ultra 4.5 software will run on the SGI WinNT computers.

If you are trying to install an old version of our software that came on floppy disk to an iMac, you will need to upgrade to the latest version of our software. The latest versions of all our software come on cd-rom.