A java virtual machine is a piece of software that is permananently installed
on your computer. It allows your computer to view applets of any kind. Just
as you need the "Flash Player" to view flash movies, so you require a
java virtual machine to view java. You only need to install a java virtual machine
once (for each browser).
Where do I get a java virtual machine?
In most cases a java virtual machine will already be delivered and
pre-installed on your new computer by the computer manufacturer/distributor.
In some cases, post-installation may be necessary.
Web sites can detect the absence of a java virtual machine and prompt
the user to install. This works the same way as prompting users for
Flash or other plug-in upgrades/installations. Any web developer can
choose to detect any java virtual machine version and prompt their own
preferred version to download from their own server - the control is
between you and your site visitor, not the big corporations.
Computer users can also download and install a java virtual machine
from the web just as they might find and install any other kind of freeware.
Common name(s) of java virtual machine
Manufacturer
Required for
Where to download
VM for Java,
Virtual Machine
Microsoft
Internet Explorer for Windows
(Sun plug-in can also be used. Additional information
about the Microsoft java virtual machine can be found here.)
A variety of changing distribution channels. We are happy to advise
and help with obtaining a copy.
You can also search Google for "build 3805 of the Microsoft
VM for java" - the resulting file will be called msjavx86.exe with
a byte-size of about 5.4 MB.
Plug-in,
JRE,
J2SE
Sun
Netscape 6.x; can optionally be used on Internet Explorer 6.x.
All operating systems other than Mac.
Try
this page at Sun
and look for the "JRE" component of J2SE (not JDK and not SDK!). The latest version
is 1.4. Confusingly they sometimes call this "Java 2".
(As of the end of 2004, a beta version of 1.5 is available, known as Java 5).
MRJ, Mac OS Runtime for Java
Apple
Any browser which runs on a Mac (except very old versions
of Internet Explorer, which used a Microsoft VM); note
carefully: up to OS 9, MRJ is required; from OS X, Apple
have switched to a variant of the Sun J2SE JRE plug-in, but
this is not available from Sun, only from Apple, and may still
be called "MRJ" (they are not clear about this).
Try
this page at Apple.
Remember that there are two basic kinds of Apple java: pre-OSX, and OSX. Choose your
download accordingly.
(-)
Symantec
Netscape 4.x for anything other than Macintosh
Now out-of-date; typically included in old Netscape Communicator
4 installation packs.
