Old English Aerobics

What you'll need to run Old English Aerobics

Old English Aerobics (OEA) requires a reasonably up-to-date operating system and a Web Browser equipped with Java version 1.1 or higher. It runs best on good hardware (a Pentium or PowerPC chip, 32MB of memory, at least a 600x800 screen, a 56k modem). It has been tested on these platforms:

Windows 95 or 98:
- Netscape Navigator 4.06 or later
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 or later
Macintosh OS 7.6.1 or later:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 or later with Apple Java (MRJ 2.1.2)
- Netscape Navigator will not work
- Internet Explorer with Microsoft Java will not work
Linux with X11:
- HotJava 3.0 with Java JDK 1.1.6
- Netscape Navigator will not work

You will also need the RealPlayer (version 5.0 or higher) from RealNetworks® if you wish to listen to the sound files that come with OEA. The free RealPlayer will do fine: you don't need the "RealPlayer Plus."

Notes on the Operating Systems

Windows 95 and 98

Old English Aerobics runs just adequately in Internet Explorer for Windows. OEA runs well in Netscape, version 4.06 or higher. It will not run in earlier versions of Netscape.

Mac OS 7.6.1 or later

Because of incompatibilities between standard Java and Microsoft Java, OEA will not run on Microsoft Internet Explorer unless you replace Internet Explorer's Java Virtual Machine. Fortunately, this is easy to do.

First download Apple MRJ ("Macintosh Runtime for Java") 2.1.2 from www.apple.com/java/ and install it on your machine. (MRJ is free, and if your OS version is 8.6 you already have it.) Your machine must have 32MB of memory to run MRJ.

Next, start Internet Explorer, pull down the "Edit" menu and choose "Preferences." Find the "Java" panel in the Preferences dialog and for "Java Virtual Machine" choose "Apple MRJ." Exit and restart Internet Explorer; OEA should now work.

Netscape for the Macintosh contains an incomplete implementation of Java 1.1, and since there is no way to plug in an alternate version of Java, it is not now possible to run a Java 1.1 applet like OEA in Netscape. Netscape 6 (Mozilla) will fix the problem.

Linux and Unix

The Java engine in Netscape for Linux has a reputation for crashing frequently: I have tested versions 4.07 and 4.61 and found this to be true. It is best simply to turn off Java in Netscape.

OEA runs well in HotJava, a browser from Sun Microsystems written in Java. To make it work, you must install Java version 1.1.6. Install the JDK, not the JRE, and be sure to install version 1.1.6, not 1.1.7, which contains some bugs (not fatal, but annoying). Probably the Java Runtime Environment, version 1.1.8, from IBM will also work well.

OEA may run well in Netscape under Unix and Unix-like operating systems other than Linux: I have not had the opportunity to test. However, HotJava is a good bet in all these systems. Consult your system administrator to make sure Java 1.1 is installed on the system. You may either install HotJava in your own account or have your system administrator install it so that it will be available to all users.