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Java is cross platform. Apples java jdk is prob the one with the probs.

I know; I write Java code for a living :-)
It looks like it was stalling on downloading the Java3D (platform specific to win, linux, etc.) library.

Apple still doesn't support Java3D on 10.4. Bad Apple!
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/java3dandjavaadvancedim...

Apologies if my post came across as a bit aggressive. That was not my intent. I just meant to say there was prob something wrong with the jdk from Apple and like you said it does not suppor java3d yet.

That's funny; I am running my java3d application on my powerbook with os x 10.4 just fine.
Do you mean that it doesn't support it out of the box or not at all? If it's the latter, I think you are fortunately wrong

Java 3D 1.3.1 is preinstalled on 10.4, which is why the _installer_ you refer too is not supported on 10.4.

Thanks for the clarification.
It's strange though; the JNLP for Looking Glass tried seems to want to download the Java3D api.

I'll check this out again when I get home.

If you look at your Console when it runs on a Mac, you'll see that it crashes on a "class not found" exception, as it tries to run on the Java 3D you already have. All the LG3D JNLP file does (as far as J3D is concerned) is load the Java 3D 1.4 JNLP, but that file doesn't reference any files for Mac OS X (as Mac OS X is not supported) so no new J3D files are installed. Unfortunately Java 3D requires a native library, so unless Apple updates its version, or someone ports it (Java 3D is now open source), then it won't be possible to get LG3D working. Java 3D 1.4 requires OpenGL 1.2 or DirectX 9 support, so it won't run under VirtualPC on a Mac either. Beyond pestering Apple, or porting it yourself, the only thing left to do is wait for Javas 3D 1.5, which will most likely be layered over JOGL.

Edited 2005-11-16 15:42

LG3D requires Java 3D 1.4. Apple hasn't released a Java 3D update since 1.3.1 in December 2003 so the Java 3D implementation on the Mac is a couple of years old. Java 3D 1.4 provides shaders support and other features that LG3D uses. LG3D should run fine on any system that supports Java 3D 1.4 (ie its not Intel only).

Thanks for the info.
I love my Mac, but am continually disappointed with the level of support Apple provides for Java APIs (standard & optional).

OS X's Aqua is the second most popular GUI, yet Sun supports the optional APIs on Windows, Linux, and Solaris in near-lockstep. Is this more a problem with Apple than Sun?

"OS X's Aqua is the second most popular GUI, yet Sun supports the optional APIs on Windows, Linux, and Solaris in near-lockstep. Is this more a problem with Apple than Sun?"

Sun support the two system they sell: Solaris and Linux.

They also support Windows because Microsoft (c/w)ouldn't handle it.

It is running from a hard-disk. After the initial demo, Sun scaled back the amount of work going into Looking Glass, so I don't think it'll get very far. It'd be better to wait for the next X.Org and use one of the next-gen WMs that appear after that (KDE 4 is sounding promising at the moment).