Problems with browsers:
We have seen that one of the potential advantages of applets is that they run in a browser, an environment that is widely available. This can also be a disadvantage - there are many different browsers and quite a number of versions of the more popular browsers and they vary in their treatment of applets. The browser's Java Virtual Machine (JVM) has historically been provided as part of the browser, without any strong standardization.
Browser versions and browser wars Very early browsers (pre-dating Java) did not support applets at all. In the early days of Java, the popular browsers supported the early versions of the language such as Java 1.1, but with variations in support for some detailed aspects, and with some vendors implementing their own extensions to the Java language itself.
To make matters worse, there then followed a considerable period of intense competition, sometimes known as the 'browser wars', between the leading browser providers. This had adverse effects on browser compatibility with applets, in that each provider tended to frequently update their browser offerings, adding proprietary features but usually also introducing new bugs along the way. Various legal disputes, other disagreements and the continual turmoil of the competitive market meant that not all browsers kept up with developments in the Java language.
Many current browsers have built-in Java support based on the JDK 1.1 Java platform and, therefore, are not capable of running applets that make use of features added to the Java platform since JDK 1.1. The supported features include the AWT but may not include such fundamental parts of the current language as the Swing user interface library. Therefore, most browsers will support applets based on the Applet class, but not necessarily applets that extend the JApplet class.
Peace at last
Fortunately, there is a way out of the unsatisfactory situation described above. Sun Microsystems offers freely downloadable software that can be 'plugged in' to most browsers to enable them to run applets using current versions of Java. The Java Plug-in, as it is called, provides a standard and up-to-date JVM and run-time environment. Effectively, Sun has solved the compatibility problems by taking back control of the browser JVM.
Some systems may come with the Java Plug-in already installed. It is a significant download, but the large download should only be required once, with possible occasional updates when you wish to take advantage of a new version of the Java language. On some platforms the Java Plug-in may be automatically installed when either the Java Runtime Environment or the Java 2 SDK is installed.
If you experience any problems in running applets from a browser, it may be useful to check whether the Java Plug-in is already installed on your computer. The details of how to do this vary between platforms but are readily available on the web.
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