On Apr 27, 4:56 pm, fabien.berge...@gmail.com wrote:

Write your applet for the lowest version you can get and has all the
features you need. Test the compiled applet with later versions, too,
to make sure nothing breaks in later versions.

I doubt anyone knows exactly how many copies of each are actually installed
and in use. Java might be able and willing to tell you how many copies of
each have been downloaded but how many of those copies are actually in use
and how many are on dead or infrequently-used computers? And how do we
factor in browsers that are installed on computers for one reason or another
but are rarely if ever used?

I'm not sure this information would be helpful even if someone did have it.
I think a better question might be: what versions of the JRE are my target
audience using? Mind you, that question may be just as hard to answer. Or
not. If you are writing for an audience within your own company and you know
what versions of the JRE are put on the company's PCs, you know exactly
which versions of Java you need to accomodate with your programs. But if
you're writing an applet that will be of wide interest throughout the world,
you really can't assume anything about which JRE they will have.

I would tend to go along with the advice given to you by  'a24900'. Write to
the oldest JRE that is still widely used - assuming it offers the
functionality you need - and then try to write it in a way that is
compatible with later JREs. Then test to be sure it works correctly on all
the appropriate JREs and operating systems. That could be a lot of work
though if you want to support several JREs and operating systems.

The other option is just to write to an arbitrary level, like 1.5 or 1.6,
and then insist that the users upgrade their JRE in order to use your
program/applet. Some users will not do it but that's life: they will simply
be unable to use your program or applet until they upgrade.

--
Rhino