What's New in 1.3?

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The 1.3 release of Java Plug-in software supports two new features focusing on effective applet deployment and enabling considerably faster applet performance through the new Java Hotspot Client VM.

Java Plug-in 1.3 software is part of the Java 2 Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.3 for Windows which is included with the Java 2 SDK for Windows. If you download either the Java 2 SDK 1.3 or JRE 1.3 for Windows, you will also receive the latest version of the plug-in.

Java Plug-in software is not available as a separate download. In order to redistribute Java applets using the plug-in, you must download JRE 1.3 which includes the appropriate no-fee redistribution license.

For Solaris users, Sun is offering a tuned version of Netscape Communicator and the plug-in.

New Features and Functionality

• Overall enhanced client performance
  This release features the new Java Hotspot Client VM which provides significant performance enhancements specifically benefiting Java client applets and applications - up to 25% faster than our most recent Java 2 release. This means users will clearly see better interactive performance. These improvements also mean users will see faster startup of their applets and application and a smaller memory footprint.

• Improved applet caching
  We are providing improved control over applet caching to ensure core business functions remain in fast-loading cache and users see improved performance.

  Prior to version 1.3, applets were cached in the same cache used by the browser for all web documents. Unfortunately, this meant that a cached applet could be flushed out later by the browser to make room for new documents. This is problematic for frequently used applets where it is key to eliminate all unnecessary downloads. With this new feature, the applet deployer can ensure that the appet will stay on the disk in an area that the browser cannot overwrite. The applet will be downloaded again only if it is updated on the server.

  See Applet Caching for more information.

• Optional Package (Standard Extension) installation
  We are providing an automatic way to ensure any optional packages (also known as standard extensions) needed by your applet will be installed along with the applet. By specifying the location, version and names of all required optional packages in the OBJECT tag, you ensure that they are present by automatically downloading them. This can be used with optional packages from Sun (eg. JavaMail, JavaHelp) or any other vendor, as well as user-created optional packages.

  When used effectively with code shared between multiple applets, this can lead to more efficient memory utilization, faster startup and ease code reuse.

  See Extension Versioning for more information.

• Improved Java Plug-in Control Panel - more version information
  The Java Plug-in software Control Panel now has an "about" feature which displays the default JRE, VM, and Java Plug-in software versions installed on the system. In the past, this information was more difficult to obtain, requiring the Java console to be activated and a web page containing an applet to be visited.

  Note the Control Panel is now found in a more intuitive location, under the Windows Control Panel, instead of under the "Programs" section on the Start menu.

For more information about these features, see the related documentation.

For information about the new features in the Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition v 1.3, see the Java 2 SDK README.