HotJava Raleigh NC

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Originally published at Internet.com

Welcome to the future of the Web...according to Sun Microsystems, that is. HotJava is an interesting browser that can take prestige in being the first Web browser to offer full support for the Java language. Unfortunately, the Web browser itself leaves much to be

Support for Java Applets

In addition to allowing clients to download the normal fare of images, documents, sounds, etc., distributed Java applets can also be downloaded using HotJava. (Recent releases of Netscape, Internet Explorer, and Opera have the same capabilities.) Applets are (usually) small executable programs written in the Java programming language and included in HTML pages, similar to commonly imbedded images.

Java Applets can take the form of almost anything, from simple games and animations to the most complex of programs. You can even develop and add your own applets to your Web site. The potential for this technology is almost limitless; already the sample applets available far exceed anything ever encountered on the Web before.

A Not So "Hot" Web Browser

Sun has developed an amazing language in Java, but the actual browser, HotJava, is nowhere near as "hot". As a Web browser, HotJava isn't likely to win over many followers. It's far slower than Netscape and other browsers and it lacks many of the best features found in Netscape and Internet Explorer (including integrated news and mail support, ActiveX capabilities, HTML 4.0 and Dynamic HTML support, telephony features, extensive inline file support, and so on).

While the Java technology may well be the future of the Web, HotJava likely won't be the Web browser delivering it to most users. Netscape and Internet Explorer already include Java technology and do so with a better selection of features. While Java may take the 'net by storm, it's perhaps too much to expect the same from HotJava.