Thank you Kevin, for the direct, well put, inside inforamation. The remaining hitch for me (and others that I know) is the question of java 3d on these different platforms. Will blackdown be working on the java 3d port as well? And is there any reason to believe that java 3d will be working with x86 long before it works on the PPC? I would appreciate any inforamtion on this issue. respectfully dt _________________________________________ David R.Thompson Los Alamos National Laboratory TSA 5 wk.ph:505.665.5572 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________