It depends on what you want to do. Most people will have a satisfactory experience with the default viewer (the one that pops up when you click to see a zoomable image). If you are an experienced web user, you may like the smoother panning available with the java and plug-in clients. If you want to rotate the images you will need to use the plug-in.

You can download the latest Java Plug-in from Sun Microsystems : http://java.sun.com/webapps/getjava/BrowserRedirect?locale=en&host=www.java.com:80

The Java browser plug-in is included in the Java Runtime Environment, published by Sun Microsystems. See "How can I get the latest Java Runtime Environment?" See also "Plan-B in the browser" for specific instructions on how to install Java for your browser.

Java Plug-in Software is a software product from Sun Microsystems, Inc., that allows enterprise web managers to direct Java applets and JavaBeansTM components on their intranet web pages to run using Sun's Java Runtime Environment (JRE). With the 1.4 release of Java Plug-in, it is also allows the conventional APPLET tag to direct Java applets to use Sun's JRE. This is especially useful in browser, such Internet Explorer 6, that do not support Java.

Java Plug-in Software is designed for enterprise customers who want to deploy Java SDK, Standard Edition based applets on their intranet web pages, and support Microsoft Windows-, Solaris-, and Linux-based browsers in their enterprise. With the 1.4 release, it is also designed for the consumer who wants to run Java applets on a web page.

To assist in your deployment of Java Plug-in Software, Sun has made available a variety of technical documentation. Documentation regarding the HTML specifications, using Java Plug-in Software in intranet environments, how proxy configuration works, how to script applets, and much more are available from the Java Plug-in Software documentation page.

Java 3D comes with various packages. Installing it incorrectly may inadvertently disable Java Plug-in or cause it to fail. Follow these general instructions for using Java 3D and Java Plug-in Software: Install Java 3D in a new directory. Do not install it over the existing Java SDK, Standard Edition/JRE. See this page for installation instructions. Install a version of the SDK/JRE that is appropriate for Java 3D if one is not already installed on your computer.

According to posts in webtv.users from Steve Perlman, ex-president of WebTV, WebTV has been working to provide a form of Personal Java for the WebTV Plus terminal (and possibly the new Classics and Dishplayer, but nothing was said specifically about them as they were not announced products at the time of the posts)?there is no guarantee this will happen. For the full text of Steve's posts, click here.

Sun has made Java Plug-in Software available for porting to all operating system providers. For information about support for Java Plug-in Software on other operating systems, contact the operating system provider. Complete description of the failure/problem encountered. Include the steps required to reproduce the problem. Yes. Java Plug-in Software uses the same JRE that users can download from Sun's web site today (see http://java.sun.com/j2se/).

Author: Larry Widing (http://www.jguru.com/guru/viewbio.jsp?EID=96408) Question originally posed by Vikrant Chitre (http://www.jguru.com/guru/viewbio.jsp?EID=84028 According to Sun's documentation (at least for the 1.3 version of the plug-in), you can communicate with JavaScript using the JSObject classes. The difference is in how you tell the JVM that you want to use that support.

JRE/Java Plug-in is a product in the Java 2 Platform family, and it uses the new Java 2 Platform's security model. This security model is more flexible and configurable than the security model used by JDK 1.1. For more information, see the Java 2 Platform's security documentation at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/docs/guide/security/index.html. Note that applets that rely explicitly on proprietary technology in the security model of the Microsoft VM may not work with Java Plug-in.

Brief answer: I don't think I need them and I am too lazy to work on them. Read a more extensive explanation.

Java Plug-in Software delivers several key capabilities to for users of Internet Explorer or Netscape's Navigator: Take full advantage of Java SDK, Standard Edition functionality such as JavaBeans, JNITM, and RMI today. Develop and deploy 100% Pure JavaSM applets on Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator browsers, and be assured that they will run reliably and consistently in both browsers.

Java Plug-in Software supports scripting of applets in Internet Explorer and Netscape 6. However, scripting is not available when using Java Plug-in Software in Navigator 4. Yes, Java Plug-in Software supports standard Java SDK, Standard Edition signed JARs and applets signed using Netscape signing tools. See the How to Sign Applets Using RSA-Signed Certificates for more details. It can. There are in fact three options beginning with the 1.4 release. See Proxy Configuration for details.

On the Start menu, choose Start>Settings>Control Panel, then double-click on the steaming Java cup icon labeled Java Plug-in.

Check the version number in C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files\Java Runtime Environment or C:\WINNT\Downloaded Program Files\ Open Netscape Navigator. Go to the Help>About Plugins. Check the MIME types listed under Java Plug-in. If the following exist:

In some circumstances, Java Plug-in Software will use a different debug connection address than expected. This occurs when Java Plug-in Software is loaded into the Explorer.exe process running in one of the following configurations: Java Plug-in Software is loaded into the Explorer.

With Java Plug-in Software 1.3 a scriptable tag must be included and given a value of "true" in order for an applet to be scriptable. See the Using OBJECT, EMBED and APPLET Tags in Java Plug-in for more information.