Java issue

[Stephanie]

I'm not very good with computers and I'm not sure what
group I should post to but thought I'd start with General
XP since that is what I have. I am having problems
opening my AOL Hometown page. I continue to get the same
message on the bottom left of my window that says
"appelet aol.htp.common.ui.HtpMain.notinited" The page
never loads/opens. Next appears a box telling me to go
to Microsoft.com/java/ and fix my browser settings. I've
gone to the page and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense
to me. I am NOT a developer. I have tried downloading
one of the Java programs that seemed to fit the problem I
was having but nothing works. What can I do to correct
this? The funny thing is I can open other Java related
programs and they work just fine. One other thing. I've
talked with Dell AND AOL and each one says it's not them
that's causing my problem. SOS

 

[ED]

-----Original Message-----
I'm not very good with computers and I'm not sure what
group I should post to but thought I'd start with General
XP since that is what I have. I am having problems
opening my AOL Hometown page. I continue to get the same
message on the bottom left of my window that says
"appelet aol.htp.common.ui.HtpMain.notinited" The page
never loads/opens. Next appears a box telling me to go
to Microsoft.com/java/ and fix my browser settings. I've
gone to the page and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense
to me. I am NOT a developer. I have tried downloading
one of the Java programs that seemed to fit the problem I
was having but nothing works. What can I do to correct
this? The funny thing is I can open other Java related
programs and they work just fine. One other thing. I've
talked with Dell AND AOL and each one says it's not them
that's causing my problem. SOS
.
You might want to download the Sun Microsystems version

of Java at www.java.com. Microsoft lost a lawsuit with
Sun Microsystems last year and without getting into all
of the details, Microsoft's version of Java is slowly
becoming obsolete. If you've taken a look at any computer
running a Windows operating system and built after about
Sept. 2003, you will most likely see a separate program
for Sun's version of Java in the "All Programs" list
versus the "hidden but there and always running in the
background" Microsoft approach that was used before the
legal challenge. Over time and as the Microsoft version
of Java becomes more and more out of date, it seems
likely that converting to the current Sun version will
become mandatory. My 2 cents worth - it's a shame that
two companies like Dell and AOL gave you the "it's not
our problem story." I've encountered that same
unwillingness to offer help from other computer tech
support personnel and found that it is usually the
individual and not the company. Sometimes just trying a
second time and getting a different individual at that
company who truely cares about customer service makes all
the difference in the world. If the company comes back to
you a few days after your contact with their support
personnel to "survey" your opinion of that experience, be
sure to praise those that went the extra mile to assist -
it's one way to ensure that the next person with that
problem gets help rather than the "go away and don't
bother me" routine. By the way, I'm a Gateway computer
user, and the two times I've needed some serious help the
Gateway support has been absolutely super.