Minute Menu CX

Software & Hardware Requirements

Minute Menu CX is written as a "thin client" software. This means that it must be installed on your computer, but all of its data is saved on secure Internet servers maintained by Minute Menu CX – no data is stored on your computer. So Minute Menu CX works in much the same way as any web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox), constantly downloading and uploading information over the Internet... but unlike those standard web browsers, Minute Menu CX has been customized to meet the requirements of a system built for the USDA Food Program.

Supported Operating Systems

To install Minute Menu CX (whether in a Sponsor's office or at a center), you must have a computer with a Microsoft Windows operating system. Specifically, the following operating systems are supported:

Pre-Requisites

Depending upon the operating system, Minute Menu CX requires certain prerequisites (i.e., software that must be installed as part of the operating system). For example, in Windows XP, you must have Service Pack 2 installed. The pre-requisites are checked by Minute Menu CX during installation, and if any pre-requisites are not installed, the Minute Menu CX installation software will direct you to Microsoft’s web site to help you install those pre-requisites. These pre-requisites are all free, provided by Microsoft to anyone who uses Windows.

Minute Menu CX requires the Microsoft .NET 3.5 framework in order to run. If your computer does not already have that installed, then Minute Menu CX will install it for you when it is being installed. The .NET 3.5 framework is also free.

Administrator Rights

You must have administrator access in Windows when installing Minute Menu CX for the first time. In addition, we upgrade the Minute Menu CX thin client with some frequency, and while Administrator rights are not normally required, in some very rare cases it may be necessary to have Administrator rights when these updates are applied.

Internet Access Required

You must be connected to the Internet while running Minute Menu CX. A dedicated connection (via DSL, cable, satellite, or some other mechanism) is preferred to dial-up, but is not required. You can use Minute Menu CX with a dial-up Internet connection, but you must be connected to the Internet while using the software.

You must also be able to access the Minute Menu web services via secure http connection (HTTPS), which may require adjustment to your office firewall or proxy server.

Hardware Requirements

No data is installed by Minute Menu CX, so you need very little free hard drive space in order to run it – just enough to store the program itself (which is about 40MB), and to install the pre-requisites.

You must have a computer capable of 1024x768 resolution display (a standard computer screen resolution), with a minimum of 1GB of memory (RAM) and a 1GHz CPU or faster.

You will need a printer if you wish to print reports from Minute Menu CX.

Software Requirements

In order for some internet-connected features to function you must have Internet Explorer web browser version 8 or newer installed.

In addition, Minute Menu CX generates custom export files directly to Microsoft Excel, so we recommend that Sponsors have Microsoft Excel installed in their offices to take advantage of this feature.