[Peter_Jones]

I've come across a few reports on the Internet that the OS Xs built-in Java Runtime Environment doesn't work correctly with current browsers. In some cases the applet comes up fine, but Javascript commands to the applet generate errors. In other cases the applet doesn't come up at all. Here is an example from the book Core Java:
blank>http://www.apl.jhu.e...Simulation.html

My applet is at:
blank>http://members.shaw....m2/software.htm

Opera and Explorer 5.1 do not work. Does Netscape? What can be done to get Java to work properly on OS X?

Peter

[Nobody]

The demos seem to work in Netscape/Mozilla and OmniWeb but your navigation toolbar doesn't. All you can do is hope and wait for the developers of the browsers to fix their applet support. I hope this helps.

[Peter_Jones]

Oh good, applets work with Netscape in OS X. I thought there might be something seriously wrong with all browsers on the Mac! It's not like hyperlinking is broken or anything. Whoops, it is! images/icons/wink.gif

Can you give me any details about how the navigation bar doesn't work? It's worked for years on Windows with Explorer/Netscape/Opera and I know people who have used it on the Mac as well.

Thank you for checking into this for me, I do appreciate it.

Peter

[Nobody]

It refuses to show up except for the orange line at the bottom of the frame. If I open the frame separately, it shows, but clicking the links seems to kill the browser. Very odd indeed!

[Peter_Jones]

Huh! The navigation bar is just a table with some cell background graphics and text links. Certainly not any rocket science going on there.

Hmmm... problems with tables, text links, Javascript and applets. Are the enhancements in OS X currently worth the grief? Are people better off with OS 9 and older browsers?

Peter

[Nobody]

I'd say yes; OS X is worth the grief. The reasons are many but most importantly, stability.

EDIT: Thanks Jim. images/icons/wink.gif

[ 06-14-2002: Message edited by: d00d ]

[Nobody]

Just so there is no confusion here.
d00d is saying "yes" to "Are the enhancements in OS X currently worth the grief?" Not "Are people better off with OS 9 and older browsers?"

images/icons/wink.gif
Jim

[Nobody]

In my experience, whether it's "Java" or "Javascript," the Mac OS ( "Classic" or new or Jaguar or whatever) simply can't handle java-anything. Period. So don't get your hopes up.

My wife plays some stupid games on I-Won.com -- things like video poker -- and there's no way in hell any Mac running any Mac OS can ever play those games. I don't know why, and I don't like it, but I've learned to accept it.

I've downloaded the various Runtime thingies -- which include no instructions (why are they zipped? Should they be unzipped? Should the browser be told where all these things are? Insert your gues here.) -- and no matter who I've spoken with and what I've tried, the Mac experience on the Web -- when it runs into anything associated with Java -- is definitely inferior to the PC experience.

This blows, and I would have thought that Jobs would have addressed this by now, but I think his deal with Gates precludes it.

NOW -- having said this, I'm sure someone will chime in with some claptrap about how they got it all working on their machine, but the browser matters, or this matters, or that matters. HEY! As a user who isn't interested in running experiments, I just want it to work out of the box. I don't want to download Runtime and put Xs in boxes. Why is this so hard for the people at Apple to understand?

We just want this stuff to work!

And what about those of us stuck in an office using Microsoft Exchange Server? Ever had to use Outlook 2001 for the Mac? There's a real nosebleed if I ever smelled one....

Now that I think about it, NONE of these damned computers -- PCs, Mac, Linux, Unix -- none of them are domesticated enough for civilian use.

[Nobody]

A couple things:

One, you don't need to download a runtime for OS X. The java support built into X is simply wonderful (I develop a lot of Java apps as part of my classes in computer science).

Two, the problem with Java in OS X is browser support. Apple can't go around and fix every browser to work perfectly. The only solution would be for Apple to write its own browser which is an extremely costly endevour and would still not handle incorrect code the same exact way IE for Windows would handle it.

Three, Outlook 2001 for Mac is a Microsoft product. Apple has nothing to do with it. If you have a beef with it, whine about Microsoft; they made it.

Four, Javascript and Java are unrelated. One is a scripting language for use in web pages and the other is a full programming language with lots of support for use in web pages.

I'm sorry you are having so much trouble. Unfortunately, these problems are not Apple's to fix. You have to question the browser makers and the web pages makers whom don't test their pages in anything but Windows.

[Officetom]

For Peter Jones. Your applet worked fine in Chimera. At least it seemed to. Looked pretty spiffy. The java example you listed did not.

Also a lot of the online games and the like are using active X and that in a lot of cases is why they break on many things not MS.

[Nobody]

Java support in browser has improved a lot since Peter posted the original message (in June). John dragged it out of the archives by posting a new reply.

[maranellof1]

i am using netscape for os x and my java applets never work... nor did the link provided... any help please, because the rest of you said that they were working...

and i do agree with john java don't work crap on mac.... don't believe me, just go to www.lamboghini.com.... if your browser doesn't freeze on you, then i'll buy you all a powerbook images/icons/rolleyes.gif

[Nobody]

Better whip out that checkbook. That site looks fine in Chimera (pretty nifty too). Also, nothing on that site as far as I can tell has any Java in it. It's all flash based.

You might try getting the latest version of the Netscape Java plugin at http://homepage.mac....eard/MRJPlugin/

Also, try getting the latest version of Flash (search at Versiontracker).

[maranellof1]

i just downloaded the plugin from the link that you provided, but the pages that were given in the first post still don't work... i am using netscape 7 on jag... but the plugin says that it is for netscape 6... is that the problem???? and my bad, the lamborghini site is actually all flash based, not java... but even that doesn't work to well....

d00d, tell me something... the general system lag that is present in macs, is it due to the graphics intense nature of os x, or due to slow hardware... i mean, if you use windows you must admit that changing from one application to another is so seamless and fast... even having many windows of the same app open... in mac, there is always this lag... and if the lag get too much, the stupid color disc crap thing comes up... it jsut generally pisses me off... so is it something that apple can overcome with faster hardware (if they ever get up off of their asses and don't want to file for chapter 11 assistance next year) or is it jsut the nature of the mac to be like that and won't ever be as fast as the pc... i hope you understand what i mean when i say that the pc is faster... i don't mean by vitals in number crunching (which i know that everyone is going to post) but i mean what all of us notice during our day to day normal usage... it jsut seems that the operating system and all the applications and the comptuer as a whole is dipped in molasses... even as i type this, it's just icky... i ain't complaining, but just want to know what's up with that....