<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> We do not deliver java applications to the desktop. We do 
> not install nor assume a jvm exists at the desktop. We use a 
> java application server to deliver HTML applications to the 
> desktop.
>
> To improve the user interface, we have thought about 
> adding javascript (not the same thing as java and not 
> dependent upon java), but due to various versions of 
> javascript in various browsers, this can be challenging.

The problem is with delivering open source applications to any desktop... the majority 
of Windows users are likely to have IE4+ but they might also have Netscape, Opera or 
something. However, there's no reason that they will even be using a browser on a 
Windows platform.

The same rules apply as three or four years ago when the issues were to do with frames 
and tables in the version 3 incarnations of Netscape and IE... keep it simple, keep it 
clean, keep it well inside the standards and keep as much as possible on the server.

I've recently had to fix an information resource purchased for my NHS Trust from a 
fairly large publisher. It was a manual of procedures and it appeared to work 
perfectly on IE5 but threw up Javascript errors and looked awful on IE4 (which most of 
our PCs are currently using). The issues turned out to be down to IE5 being too 
forgiving of errors.

Unless working in a homogenous environment, it is normally best to play safe with the 
pages delivered to the client machines. If fancier coding is needed than it needs to 
be tested widely - preferably on a range of browsers and a range of platforms... and 
that's even before you start to think about the usability issues of new ways of doing 
things!

Wulf




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