diff --git a/README b/README
index 628e3c9cbb7738ebbb5441e5d24e82935e11141b..048d0516a8dfc90fff37ee72fcda8e3bc3b6a302 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -1,25 +1,82 @@
 Mahara Readme
 -------------
 
-Thanks for downloading Mahara! To install, please follow the instructions here:
+Thanks for downloading Mahara!
+
+SUPPORT: The best ways of obtaining support are:
+
+ * http://manual.mahara.org/ - the Mahara online manual
+ * http://www.mahara.org/forums - the Mahara project forums
+ * #mahara on freenode (IRC) - live chat with other users and developers
+
+INSTALLATION:
+
+To install, please follow the instructions here:
 
   https://wiki.mahara.org/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Installing_Mahara
 
+UPGRADING:
+
 If you already have a Mahara you wish to upgrade, follow the instructions here:
 
   https://wiki.mahara.org/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Upgrading_Mahara
 
-The best ways of obtaining support are:
-
- * #mahara on freenode (IRC) - live chat with other users and developers
- * http://www.mahara.org/forums - the Mahara project forums
-
-You can get language packs from:
+SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
+
+The system requirements for the most recent version of Mahara are here:
+
+  https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Requirements
+
+Mahara 1.8 requires:
+
+ * Database:
+ ** Postgres 8.3 or later
+ ** or MySQL 5.1 or later
+
+ * Web Server: Mahara is only officially supported on Apache 2 or later,
+   although it will probably run in any web server with the proper PHP
+   extensions.
+
+ * PHP 5.3 or later, with the following extensions:
+ ** gd (including Freetype support)
+ ** json
+ ** curl
+ ** libxml
+ ** SimpleXML
+ ** session
+ ** pgsql; or mysqli; or mysql
+ ** openssl and xmlrpc (for networking support)
+ ** mbstring
+ ** mime_magic; or fileinfo
+ ** mcrypt
+ ** imagick (optional)
+ ** zlib (optional)
+ ** zip (optional)
+ ** bz2 (optional)
+ ** ... and ensure that the magic_quotes and register_globals settings are off.
+
+ * OS: Mahara is only officially supported on Debian (5.0/"Lenny" or later) and
+   Ubuntu (10.04/"Lucid Lynx" or later), however it will probably run in any
+   OS with a suitable web server
+ ** For zip/unzip support, the command-line "zip" and "unzip" utilities must
+    be installed
+
+ * Web Browser: Mahara should be accessible in any modern web browser with
+   Javascript support. However, it is only actively tested in the most recent
+   versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera; and the last three versions
+   of IE. For Mahara 1.8.0, these versions are:
+ ** Firefox - 24.0
+ ** Chrome - 34.0
+ ** Safari - 6.0
+ ** Opera - 17.0
+ ** IE - 8, 9, 10
+
+TRANSLATIONS: You can get language packs from:
 
   https://wiki.mahara.org/Download_Mahara
 
-Documentation on integrating Mahara with Moodle can be found in the 3.1MB PDF
-here:
+MOODLE: Documentation on integrating Mahara with Moodle can be found in the
+3.1MB PDF here:
 
   https://wiki.mahara.org/images/d/d5/Mahoodle.pdf