Though I don't really recommend it for anyone not already familiar with Unix, students with fast Internet connections can work directly from the lab machines. You'll need to download and install an implementation of ssh to log in remotely. (More information.)

The CS61A lab machines you can log in to are dv310-1a, dv310-1b, ..., dv310-1y, dv310-2a, ..., dv310-2m.cs.berkeley.edu. Don't everyone log in to dv310-1a! Try to pick a machine with as few people logged in to it as possible. (You can find out who else is logged in to the machine you're using by typing who at the Unix prompt.)

Alternatively...

Download and install an implementation of Scheme. In the past, most people have used SCM or Gambit. More recently, some students have used DrScheme. Each of these Scheme implementations is available for DOS/Windows, MacOS, and Unix systems.

A word of warning about using Scheme implementations other than SCM: other Scheme implementations may use slightly different dialects of Scheme and may not necessarily work with some of the programs required for this class. SCM is the implementation used on the lab machines. SCM is also the only one I have personally used and can help you with if you should run into trouble. Use other implementations at your own risk.

The following are bundled with various files used in CS61A:

• download SCM for DOS (read the instructions first!)
• download Gambit for the Macintosh

The following are links to unsupported implementations; you'll need to configure them and download the other necessary files (such as berkeley.scm/berkeley.ss) yourself:

• the Gambit home page
• the DrScheme home page

To transfer files to and from the lab machines, you can use e-mail or you can use FTP:

• e-mail. Hopefully everyone should be familiar and comfortable with e-mail and sending file attachments. You can use a Unix e-mail program such pine to retrieve mail sent to your CS61A account or to write mail from it.
• FTP. If you already have an FTP client, it's a bit simpler to transfer files via FTP. If you want a secure connection, you'll need to get SafeTP also. If you're unconcerned about security, you can skip that, but you'll need to connect to cory.eecs.berkeley.edu.