Got Java?

A user wrote recently:

I'd like to download your Kerika program, as it looks useful. However when I download the windows version of the program and try to install it, I get a pop up error which says "Error locating class: com/kerika/ui/ui" I use Internet Explorer & Windows XP Professional. Just wondering if you can give me any hints as to why this might be happening.

The answer: make sure you have the latest version of Java by visiting www.java.com.

Why? Well, maybe you remember a long-lasting fight between Microsoft and Sun regarding the way that Microsoft "embraced and extended" (and accidentally/deliberately broke) the Java that they were bundling in with Windows XP? This finally got resolved last year with many millions of dollars changing hands, but not before the damage had been done: millions of people got PCs with Windows XP installed with a broken "Java virtual machine" -- which is what Kerika needs to run!

Since then both companies have been trying to clean up the mess, with Sun trying a little harder than Microsoft, but there are still many, many machines out there with a bad Java environment that came packaged with Windows XP. If you have never run any Java programs on your machine before -- and a shocking number of people haven't! -- you probably never knew that you didn't have a good Java environment on your computer. Well, just visit www.java.com and get yourself updated!