SPSS - Windows, Mac, and Linux (#3595)

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Overview

VCU Technology Services has a site license agreement with IBM, Inc., which allows currently enrolled/employed VCU students, faculty, and staff to use several popular SPSS products for Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and Linux at no cost.

Conditions Of License

(please visit Conditions Of License)

Products Supported

(please visit SPSS Product Availability)

System Requirements

SPSS Statistics 21:

Macintosh SPSS Statistics 19:

See the System Requirements section in this Mac SPSS 19 Installation Instructions document.

To Obtain SPSS Installation Media

Note:  Distribution of installation disks via the VCU Technology helpIT Center has been discontinued.

Installation Instructions

Below are links to instructions for installing IBM SPSS Statisctics.

After installing SPSS, you are strongly advised to install any patches or FixPacks that are available for your version of the software, as discussed in the next section.

FixPacks and Patches (updates)

As with all software, SPSS will usually contain a few "bugs" (problems) that were not known when the software was first released.  As these problems are identified over time, IBM will release free updates, known as FixPacks, that you can install to correct these problems.  For versions prior to SPSS 19, FixPacks were known as patches.  Links are shown below for the FixPacks that are currently available, as of this writing.

In general, you should install any FixPacks and patches that become available for your version of SPSS.  They are identified by number, for example FixPack 21.0.0.1. Those beginning with 21 are for version 21 of SPSS, those beginning with 20 are for version 20, etc.  Only apply a FixPack or patch if it is for the particular version of SPSS which you have installed.

To determine if you need a particular FixPack or patch, launch SPSS on your computer and display the Help menu, then select About.  In the window that opens, you should see a release number.  For example, for SPSS 21 you may see Release 21.0.0.  If a FixPack or patch is available for your version of SPSS that has a higher number (such as 21.0.0.1) than your displayed release number, you should apply that FixPack or patch.

Instructions for obtaining (at no charge) and applying available FixPacks and patches are found at the links below. 

Renew/Register Your SPSS Software

(please visit Renew/Register Your SPSS Software)

SPSS On App2Go Server

(please visit SPSS On App2Go Server)

Support For SPSS

For local assistance with installing or using SPSS, please contact the Technology Services helpIT Center.

Technology Services provides statistical and programming consultation for using this product.  To request a consultation appointment, contact statconsult@vcu.edu or see the statistical consulting web site.

SPSS Manuals and Training

(please visit SPSS Manuals and Training)

Using R Within SPSS

You can run R programs within SPSS to analyze the data files that you have opened in SPSS.  R is a free software environment for statistical computing, graphics, and other applications.

To be able to run R programs within SPSS, you must first install the IBM® SPSS® Statistics - Essentials for R package.  This package and installation instructions are available at the following download links:

A discussion of using R within SPSS is found at Running R From SPSS.

Compatibility Between Windows, Mac, and Linux

For any given version of SPSS Statistics (e.g., for SPSS Statistics 21), SPSS Statistics data, output, and syntax files are compatible between all supported computer platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.  For example, an SPSS Statistics data file created in Windows SPSS may be opened in Mac SPSS. 

Compatibility and Differences Between Versions

New Features:

To see the new features that were added in SPSS 21 and in previous versions of SPSS, visit IBM SPSS Statistics 21 Online Documentation.  This will display the SPSS 21 Help screen in your web browser.  In the search box in the upper left portion of that screen, perform a search for What's New.  Several What's New links will be displayed for recent versions of SPSS. 

SPSS File Compatibility:

For information about file compatibility between versions (e.g., can an SPSS data file created in SPSS 21 be opened in SPSS 20), please see Compatibility of SPSS Files.  Note that the Legacy Viewer for Windows that is mentioned in that discussion is available here:  Legacy Viewer for Windows

Installing and Running Multiple Versions

You can install different versions of  SPSS on the same computer, as long as each version is installed in a separate folder.

Although you can simultaneously run different versions of SPSS (e.g., SPSS 20 and SPSS 21) on the same computer, it is not recommended, since only one version will be considered primary.

You can also simultaneously run multiple sessions of the same version of SPSS.  However, there is really no need to do so, since you may open multiple data files in separate Data Editor windows within a single session.

Sign Up for the SPSS Listserv (mailing list)

Listserv subscribers receive notifications of SPSS upgrades and maintenance fixes, training opportunities, and other related news.  There is a separate listserv for each platform.  If you obtained SPSS directly from Technology Services (via disk exchange or download), you should have been automatically subscribed to the listserv for your platform.

To manually subscribe to the SPSS ListServ, click one of the links below -- only provide your VCU email address (requests from non-VCU addresses will not be honored):

This article was updated: 06/07/2013