VM for Java for Macintosh Release Notes File Contents

• Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0 for Macintosh

SUMMARY

This article contains a copy of the information in the Release Notes file included with Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java for Macintosh.

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Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java for Macintosh

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Java support is based on the JManager interface as defined by Apple Computer, Inc. Internet Explorer has an open architecture that supports multiple Java Virtual Machines such as the Apple MRJ and the Microsoft Virtual Machine.

The Microsoft Virtual Machine

The Microsoft Java VM supports 68000 and PowerPC machines. The VM also includes a PowerPC JIT (Just-in-time compiler) for faster Java operation.

The Microsoft VM is installed when you install IE with Java. The default Java setting for IE is with the JIT turned off. This setting runs in a lower memory space. If you have more memory and would like to run faster you can choose to turn on the JIT. The JIT takes standard Java byte codes and turns them into native PowerPC instructions. For computational applets, you will see a dramatic increase in speed. The speed of graphics operations, however, will be largely unaffected. Running applets with the JIT enabled requires more RAM than the standard configuration.

New Features since 3.01:

• Inclusion of Microsoft's Application Foundation Classes (AFC) http://www.microsoft.com/java/afc/
• Support for the JDK 1.1.4 specification
• Decoding of Java applets in Cabinet (CAB) archives. CAB is Microsoft's technology for quickly and securely sending Java classes over the Internet. For more information on CAB technology go to http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/prog/cab
• Support for security zones for the Microsoft Virtual Machine

Choosing a new VM You must restart Internet Explorer when you choose a new Virtual Machine in the Java preferences panel.

International character support for Microsoft Java VM If you experience problems viewing international characters in Java applets, make sure that the Apple Text Encoding Converter is installed on your computer. To do so, check your Text Encoding folder in your System folder. You can also look for the Text Encoding Converter file in your Extensions folder (located in your System folder). The Apple Text Encoding Converter version 1.1 has been shipping with the Mac OS since version 7.6. The latest version as of the shipping of this product is 1.3.1. For more information, visit http://macos.apple.com.

Native Method Support This version of the Microsoft VM supports "classic" - JDK 1.0.2 - native method invocation only.

Low Memory Issues In some cases there may be no warning that a Java applet was unable to load because of low memory availability. Quitting Internet Explorer, choosing Get Info on the Application, and increasing the memory partition for IE may alleviate this problem.

Navigating While Loading an Applet Pressing the Refresh, Back, or Forward buttons many times repeatedly while some Java applets are actively loading, may cause Internet Explorer to stop working properly.

Clipboard support Using the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in a Java applet only works by using the command keys.

Printing Printing of Applets is currently not supported in this version of the Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java for Macintosh.

The Apple MRJ

To use this Apple Virtual Machine, you must first download and install it from http://applejava.apple.com.

Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Microsoft Virtual Machine for Java for Macintosh Copyright 1997-98 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.