Today most of the reputed online casinos offer their software across three platforms. These are termed as download, instant play and mobile casinos. Players should have an idea of how these software platforms evolved and the advantages and disadvantages of each. This article provides some inputs.

Download Casinos

When online casinos were first introduced about 15 years ago, they used the download software. Players had to download the software application from the online casino web site and install it on the hard drive of their computers. At that time there was no other choice available. Today the biggest advantage of download casinos is that they offer the largest game selection. The portfolio in the instant play and mobile casinos is considerably less in number. Since the software is already on the player’s computer, download casinos require minimal interactions with the main online casino server. Hence they are workable at slower Internet connection speeds as well. However, for best results a decent broadband connection is recommended.

Download casinos have some disadvantages as well. They were developed for Windows operating systems and are not compatible with either Mac or Linux operating systems. There are utilities available that allow Mac users to work on Windows based applications, but these are not so common. Since the software is installed on the hard drive, the download casinos use up significant amount of memory space. New games are added all the time and the memory usage keeps growing. The latest desktops and laptops can handle this but if the player has an older computer then he can get constrained.

Instant Play Casinos

Instant play casinos are also known as Flash casinos because they employ Flash software. They are also called no download casinos because the software is not downloaded. The software remains in the server of the online casino. The player accesses the game he wants to play and opens that game in the browser of his system. Storage on hard drive is not required. This is a big advantage. Another major advantage is that Instant play online casinos are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. This is a boon for players using Mac and Linux.

Instant play software was developed about ten years ago. In the initial years there were reports of instability and even security issues related to financial transactions. But these are matters of the past. The playing experience in current instant play software is as good as in the download software and it is as secure. However, some disadvantages are there. There are fewer games available. But most online casino software providers have their best games in both formats. Because the main software is at the online casino server players need a fast and stable Internet connection in order to play games effectively at instant play casinos.

Mobile Casinos

The latest software platform is mobile casinos. It allows players to engage in real money wagering using their mobile phone handsets. This allows them to wager at times that are usually unproductive like commuting to work or waiting for a flight or an appointment. Mobile casino is the fastest growing segment of online casinos. The number of games is very few, but the best games are usually covered. For the best quality of gaming smart phones are recommended.