Since one of the later releases of jdk1.3.1 (I think it was 1.3.1_02, but I''m not sure), it has been possible to get Internet Explorer to run java applets marked with the %lt;applet> tag through the java plug-in. I''m commenting on 1.4 as it''s the first time I''ve used that feature. And my comment is this: Wow. The only java applet I use somewhat frequently is Bejeweled on zone.msn.com. (For the sake of honestly, it was developed on popcapgames, which is why it even uses java.) It runs about twice as smoothly with the java plugin as it did with Microsoft''s VM. That is really quite significant. It seems that even programs not specifically written for 1.4, or even the java plugin, can get a serious speed boost in 1.4.