Most online casinos offer players a choice between download casino and instant play casino. Therefore it is essential to know the differences and the relative advantages of each type.
Download Casinos
The download casino requires you to download the entire free software consisting of all the games on to your hard drive from the web site of the online casino. However, when you want to wager at the online casino you still have to connect to its server through the Internet. The game applications are run from your computer, but there is a need to record the financial and gaming outcomes on the server of the online casino.
Instant Play or Flash Casinos
Instant play casinos are also referred to as Flash casinos or no download casinos. You do not have to download any software. You can select the game you want to play from the web site of the online casino after logging in. This game then opens in the browser of your computer using the software from the server of the online casino. Obviously, you would need to be connected to the server through the Internet.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Download Casinos
When online casinos hit the Internet space in the mid 1990s, they operated exclusively on download casinos. At that time Internet speeds were not large enough to transmit the video movements of gaming features, like spinning of slots reels. Because of this head start, the number of games in download casinos is much larger as compared to instant play casinos. Many of the earliest games are not available in the instant play format. This wider choice is one of the main advantages of download casinos today.
This large number of games can also become a disadvantage. The size of the download folder can be very large, and will increase further as new games are released every month. If you play at half a dozen different online casinos you may have to devote a significant portion of your hard drive space to software of download casinos.
The biggest disadvantage of the download casinos is that they are not compatible with operating systems other than Windows. Therefore users of Mac or Linux would have no access to download casinos.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Instant Play Casinos
Because there is no downloading of software involved in instant play casinos, your system will remain uncluttered and your hard drive space will not be used up, no matter at how many different online casinos you wager. This is one of the major advantages of instant play casinos. The first instance a game is downloaded can take some time depending on your Internet speed. However, at the instant play casinos the game opens in the browser instantly every time. This quick start is another advantage of instant play casinos. The instant play casino software is compatible with a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Linux. Therefore this system caters to a much larger user base and you will not be left out if you are not using Windows.
If you are using the latest computer you should not encounter any technical problem in using the instant play casino. But if your system is more than about five years old, you may encounter freezing of the screen and jerking in the movements in the latest feature rich games. In that event you may be constrained to use the download software.
Conclusion
Many online casinos offer both download and instant play software. This does not mean that you have to make a permanent choice from the two. You can play at whichever casino you want using the same username and password. A useful strategy is to opt for the instant play casino if it offers the desired game, otherwise use the download casino.
