Thanks for the excellent response. This has spurred just a few more questions
and comments if you don't mind. I did stumble into the IBM Web Browser as
well. Here are my questions and comments.
1. I assume there is no support from IBM with the Netscape 4.6.1 and 1.1.8 JVM
since this was a Netscape product?
As an FYI - problems occur always after an initial applet is loaded when a few
more Java dialog windows used by the applet are used then the browser freezes
up. Our applet has dozens of additional windows as part of the application. It
is not consistent or exactly reproducible but it will happen after 3-6 extra
windows have been used guaranteed and this happens across many machines all with
this similar configuration. The lockups are so bad that it requires a reboot
sometimes from what we have seen. There are no problems of this nature under
Windows in the same browser config so we have been stuck not being able to
support Netscape 4.6.1 and 1.1.8 JVM on OS/2 without support from somebody to
look into the problems.
2. If we were to upgrade to use the official IBM Browser for OS/2 it looks like
the only JVM that can be used there is Java 1.3? Correct? which would mean we
would have to make sure we are fully compatible with 1.3 but if there was a
problem then IBM would support the browser as well as any Java 1.3
problems....they key being Java issues as well as the browser.
3. It seems that in order to get the binaries of the IBM Browser for OS/2 we
have to belong to Software Choice or Passport Service? contract other wise we
would have to download the source and compile it ourselves. All I want really
is the binaries to quickly test the compatibility, knowing I would not get
support, but at least I would not have to create a compile environment. Are
there any other ways to just get the binaries for testing purposes without
incurring some kind of support fee cost?
Thanks again for your help. This seems to be an active community even given
the state of OS/2 which is interesting to say the least.
Kevin
Michael Kaply wrote:
> Kevin Smith wrote:
>
> > 1. Netscape 4.61 and the 1.18 JVM included with that browser under OS/2
> > is very unstable from what I have seen. Our experience is that this is
> > True. True or False?
>
> That hasn't been our experience. We receive little or no complaints about
> Java 1.1.8 and Netscape 4.6.1.
>
> > 2. Alternatives to getting a more stable JAVA environement under OS/2
> > are to use the Java 1.3 Plugin either under Netscape 4.6.1 or Mozilla?
> > True or False?
>
> Theoretically True. Although if you use the Java 1.3 plugin under 4.61, you
> lose LiveConnect. There are differing opinions as to the stability of Java
> on Mozilla (not just on OS/2, but in general)
>
> > 3. Would going to Mozilla (Warpzilla) cause more instability as a
> > general browser as opposed to staying with Netscape 4.6.1 and using the
> > plugin? Yes or No? The overall application in our case does not use
> > heave HTML or heavy Javascript so whiz-bang up-to- date Browser features
> > are not a concern, it is the Java stability in coordination with the
> > browser that have been the problem.
>
> Some builds of Warpzilla are more stable than others. It kind of depends on
> what you are looking for. Personally, I feel like the 0.9.2.1+ build we
> distributed is a pretty stable build. It is equivalent to Netscape 4.61 plus
> fixes.
>
> > 4. Does IBM officially support Warpzilla so problems can be logged and
> > fixed accordingly or is this just a public courtesy by IBM to help out
> > the OS/2 community? Yes or No?
>
> IBM produces a product called IBM Web Browser which is based on Warpzilla.
> If you are an official IBM customer with this product, you can report
> problems to
> IBM. We usually only fix problems if they are OS/2 specific. If they happen
> on the Windows code that corresponds to the OS/2 code, we usually label that
> as "working the same as Windows."
>
> We also work on the open source version of Warpzilla, and you can open bugs
> in Bugzilla and we will look at them and probably fix them. Our goal on
> either the IBM or Warpzilla side is to make the browser the best that it can
> be.
>
> Note that the only "officially" supported platform for the Java 1.3 plugin
> is IBM Web Browser. We do not test the Java plugin with current Mozilla
> builds.
>
> Mike Kaply
> IBM
