CourseWare's goal is to look up to date, but run as-is on most people's web browsers. CourseWare was prototyped under Java 1.0 in 1997, then developed in Java 1.1 in 1998. We maintained hybrid dual releases for Java 1.1 and Java 1.2. New modules use a single look for Java 1.3 and above.

Flash CourseWare hasn't settled on any particular look.

Most recent (Java 1.3+) CourseWare uses the Compiere Looks package. The older CourseWare buttons are supplanted by menu and toolbar, and the background uses a color gradient. Detail from new Cellular Automata module.

A Java 1.2 look in CourseWare. This hybrid look still used buttons for menus and documentation in order to maintain single source for Java 1.1 and Java 1.2 versions.

The original Java 1.1 releases of CourseWare used plain grey buttons for menus and documentation.

Problems?

CourseWare simulators are implemented in Java, moslty 1.3 and above, or Flash 7 and above. They've been tested on recent web browsers under Windows, MacOS, and Linux. If you have problems beyond what's indicated here, please tell Ginger! I want to fix it.

Click here to get the latest Flash player (very quick download). Click here to get the latest version Java Plug-In.

• Printing : The web browser's File | Print command does a bad job printing Java applets (how bad varies by browser and OS and Java version - but none of them do it right). Instead, the Windows Print Screen mechanism can be used to copy the screen into the system copy-paste buffer, then paste into Accessories | Paint.

  On a Mac, the copy part of that is < Command > < Shift > 3, and you'd use whatever graphics application you have to paste and print the picture. I haven't tried to print from Linux.

  Pictures using dark colors on a white background will print best.

• Browsers : In general, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, and the latest versions of Firefox (2.0+) seem to work fine on all platforms (including Windows Vista.)
• Computer platform issues : I don't know of any at the moment, although most of the Java applets simply can't be run on Mac OS9 machines. Please let me know of any other platform incompatibilities.
• If a simulator gets really confused, try Shift+Reload icon in Firefox (Ctrl+Reload icon in Internet Explorer). This reloads the Java applet from the webserver and starts fresh.
• I've had no reports of Flash problems.