Jon -

Pedantry accepted, but it does make a difference which dictionary you use. "Trojan" refers to disguise and delayed result. A virus has to have a "payload" that does something. The "viral component" gets it in, and the "payload" is what it does after it's there. A "viruse" can have a Trojan, Worm, or several other kinds of "payload," and the terms are used perhaps too loosely in much discussion. Just saying "it's a Trojan virus" usually means "it's a virus with a Trojan payload."

I haven't bothered to look much at alternative Java, but the point to keep in mind is that you cannot remove IE from the machine and still have "Windows." Even if you default to do some functions with another program, the IE components are still there and are probably still "called" for integral Windows functions. I would assume that the IE functions are still "callable" by intrusive programs, so I would be reluctant to assume that using Sun Java as the "Java default" is a sure-fire protection against an intruder exploiting an MS VM "property."

As long as you have Windows on your machine, I would recommend that you keep up to date on Windows patches - which are largely IE patches if that's how you choose to look at them. Even Mickey can't separate "IE" and "Windows" intelligibly.

John