Flashiness and all that Java

One of the things I've read about the new Macs is that there may be problems with Java, Javascript, and Flash plugins. This is supposed to be the reason that Matlab graphics won't work at all. The best tests of the new system that I know of therefore involve games and add-ins that make use of these technologies. So, I've taken this as an excuse to play Sudoku. You have to have Javascript enabled for pencil marks (the ability to indicate tentative choices) to work properly. On both my iMac G4 at the lab and my iMac G3 at home, the option works, but the implementation is a bit choppy; numbers don't appear exactly where in the square you expect them to, and, if you have more than one number in a square, there's a funky little extra box around it. In contrast, on the Intel iMac, the implementation is exactly what you'd expect. Numbers are the size you expect, and there's no funky little box. So, there's a plus.

In addition, the Flash-based game Net works as expected in Safari and FireFox. I really can't justify any more game-playing at work, so I'll have to look out for other opportunities to test out Flash, Java, and JavaScript. I suspect that a lot of stuff that has been reported to break has been pushing the technology in unexpected ways. But, we'll see.