Java – Is it possible to get a Java VM for a web browser without using an applet?

We have an old Java applet that we would like to upgrade to a newer Java version (5 or 6), but until today we have supported people using the Java Virtual Machine, back in version 1.1 (specifically for those still using Microsoft VMs)

As part of the upgrade, we want to be able to provide a webpage for users with stale VMs to tell them which versions we now support and where they can download them from. Ideally, we want to do this without first providing a Java 1.1 applet to determine the JVM version.

Answers to any of the following questions, with code examples if possible, would be appreciated:

Question 1: Can I use the information from the HTTP header to determine the JVM in the script on the server?

Question 2: Is it possible to use only JavaScript to determine the client’s information?

I think the deployment toolkit will probably do what you want.

Use the runApplet() function in deployJava to ensure that a minimum Java Runtime Environment is available on a client machine before launching the applet.