Tech: Java Support in MSIE

Subject: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Aug 04 - 11:04 PM

Some chat rooms frequented by folkies (and some other sites) need Java. I've had a recent crash/rebuild - WIN98SE...

Microsoft seems to have killed Java Support in MSIE - it recommends you to get 'the product from another source' !!!!

So 'expert techie guys' who are up to date on the moment with this stuff - what (polite & anatomically probable) suggestions please?

What about other browsers capability too then?

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: Chris Maltby
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 04:18 AM

Try getting it from the source - Java.com. I hope you've got a bit of memory to spare - you might get a better experience with Thunderbird from Mozilla instead of MSIE (leaving aside the question of security for now). It is a fair bit leaner and faster than IE.

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: Chris Maltby
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 04:23 AM

Bzzt. Of course I meant Firefox. Thunderbird is the email tool. Both are good.

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 04:57 AM

Thanks - I subscribed to the Sun quarterly CD while I was there too.

Well, since I lost previous installs thru crashes, I can now keep the dnld file in a safe place for reinstallation after the next MicroCrap crash & rebuild instead of getting it MS-Online_Install_&_Destroy_Dnld_File facility...

I prefer MSIE only for one reason... netscape would not allow me to right click and save a link on the desktop, MSIE does - I have thousands of links in the bookmarks, and I have found that having the individual link means that it can be moved to sit with the relevant files, images, etc and packed in a zip file....

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 06:31 AM

I'm running the lastest IE6 on Windows 2000 and have Java support. The only Java issue I'd heard of involved Windows XP where MS stopped supporting it - sounds like Sun (quite rightly) were not too happy about MS extending Java with Windows only bits. Details here.

Sun Java Runtime should work with IE. I've used it here.

Jon

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 06:53 AM

I'm on a rebuild too and wanted JRE 1.4.2 for Skink - a job I'd planned on doing later. I've just downloaded and installed it. It is now set as the Java Runtime for IE6 and it works fine - or at least it does with the Java Chat I run at folkinfo.

Jon

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: Chris Maltby
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 07:37 AM

"I prefer MSIE only for one reason... [it] allows me to right click and save a link on the desktop"

Ooh - those horrid .url files! I suppose if you create them yourself you can trust them, but they're easy to use for trojan horses when they get sent around as email...

I reckon there's a good chance the Mozilla team have got a plugin that will save a URL as a text file - or you can do it in two steps.

Chris

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 08:54 AM

"Sun (quite rightly) were not too happy about MS extending Java with Windows only bits"

And Americans have always wondered why the rest of the world at times expresses a certain amount of National Dislike... :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: mack/misophist
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 09:24 AM

Not all of us, Foolestroupe.

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 15 Aug 04 - 04:21 PM

A word of "warning;"

Microsoft will begin downloading the new WinXPSR2 package on August 16, 2004. The package will be downloaded automatically to anyone using WinXP who is signed on for automatic updates. When the download is completed, you will be notified and can choose whether to install it or not. ALL CREDIBLE PROFESSIONAL SOURCES are recommending installation of this package. There are some known problems that may come up, but you can look now, if you're interested, to decide before you install it.

Since the download may vary from about 60 MB to as much as 800 MB, depending on how current your other fixes are, Microsoft is recommending that anyone using WinXP should sign up for the automatic update system so that the download can be "dribbled in" as a background process while you're on the web. This is the same autoupdate most WinXP users should already be using, so no new action is required.

WinXP users with slow connections, or who do not want to use the autoupdate, will be able to order a free CD later, but no schedule has been announced for CD release. Servers with multiple WinXP machines connected can get a "special package" to delay the download, but should do so before delivery starts.

The Service Release includes some IE6 changes, and likely will affect permissions for Java on WinXP machines where it is installed. So far as I've seen, no functions will be "lost," but you may have to do some setup to get things the way you want them. The most significant problems reported have been a few specific application programs that "broke" when the SR was installed. For most of these, suppliers promise that they will have updates available, probably by the time the release gets downloaded to most people.

FWIW

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: Mark Clark
Date: 16 Aug 04 - 01:57 AM

Robin, Mozilla Firefox isn't just a reconfigured Netscape, it's a new faster, leaner browser product that, among other advantages, adopts, and strictly adheres to, all the W3C standards.

As for URL files on the desktop, one could always just drag the little icon to the left of the URL onto one's desktop to create the shortcut you want to save. This works the same way with IE and Firefox and has the advantage of placing the shortcut where you'd like it the first time. Of course this assumes you don't maximize your browser window so it fills the entire desktop. With today's monitor resolutions, I doubt that very many people do that any more.

As far as Java is concerned, Sun's java runtime from the Java.com site has always been the preferred choice. By retaining control of the Java standard, Sun has ensured that all standard Java applications will run as expected on every platform. Microsoft's strategy was to coopt Java by adding proprietary extensions and hooks. When that strategy was struck down in court, Microsoft designed their own proprietary language, called C# (C Sharp), in an attempt to replace Java as a preferred tool. C# is seeing some use from knee-jerk Microsoft customers who always adopt every Microsoft product without question but the strategy seems to have failed to replace or even overtake Java.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 16 Aug 04 - 08:53 AM

"just drag the little icon to the left of the URL onto one's desktop"...

Bloody Hell! Learn something new every day - never thought of that! :-) Thanks Mate!!!!!!! Still Preferred Opera's Tabbed interfcae last time I tried it, but will check out Firefox...

"but the strategy seems to have failed to replace or even overtake Java."

Whoopee! I do enjoy it when the arrogant get taken down a peg.

So I take it that Firefox accepts Sun Java, and many other plugins?

Robin

Subject: RE: Tech: Java Support in MSIE
From: Mark Clark
Date: 16 Aug 04 - 04:49 PM

Yes, Firefox uses Sun's Java runtime environment. I haven't used Opera but Firefox supports tabbed pages within the same frame so you can visually switch between pages or sites. Of course you can also have separate frames or some combination of frames and tabs.

      - Mark