Software Needed

Browsers

For Macintosh: Netscape^® 6.2* or higher, or Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher.

For Windows: Netscape^® 6.1 or higher, or Internet Explorer 4.5 or higher.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe Acrobat^® Reader is free software that lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Most lessons on the Illuminations web site contain PDF files. This gives the user complete control over which pages to print and how they will look. This is especially useful for many activity sheets that need to be formatted properly .

Complete instructions are available at the Adobe Reader download site.

JAVA Run-Time

For Macintosh

Users of Internet Explorer 4.5 or higher: Download Macintosh Runtime Java (MRJ 2.2.5) from Mac OS Runtime for Java site.

Users of OS X should download from Apple's Java for OS X site.

Follow the instructions on the Web site to install. In Internet Explorer, go to Edit > Preferences... > Java > Java Options and be sure that the "Java Virtual Machine" is set to Apple MRJ. (In IE 5, you will then need to select Enable JAVA

Users of Mac OS 8.6 or higher: Your machine is probably running MRJ2.1 or higher. However, you will still need to install the MRJ Plug-in for Netscape. If the Illuminations Tools are not working properly, please install the latest version of MRJ and the Mac MRJ Plug-in.

Installing MRJ Plugin

After you have installed MRJ 2.1 or higher, you need to install the MRJ Plug-in. This plug-in allows Netscape 4.76+ to utilize the MacOS Runtime for Java (MRJ) to run Applets. On Netscape Communicator 4.76, this feature is enabled from the Use Java Plug-in preference in Communicator's Advanced Preference pane. This is a development-only release, and support is limited. Use this plug-in at your own risk. (Mac OSX users, click here.)

1. Download the MRJ Plugin. Your browser should automatically unstuff the file MRJPlugin.sit as the folder MRJPlugin.

2. Open the MRJPlugin folder and choose as List from the View menu in the Finder. You'll see the following items:
   

3. For 4.76 or higher browsers, move the files MRJPlugin (4.X) and MRJPlugin.jar from the --> Plug-ins folder in the Plugin for Netscape 4.76 folder to your browser's Plug-ins folder. To install in the Netscape 6 browser, move the files MRJPlugin and MRJPlugin.jar from the --> Plug-ins folder in the Plugin for Netscape 6 folder to your browser's Plug-ins folder.
   
   
   
   
4. Installation is now complete.

Verification of Installation

After you have installed MRJ 2.1+ and the MRJ Plugin, reboot your machine and then return to the page that brought you here. The activity should appear after a short delay. If you have any questions, please e-mail illuminations@nctm.org.

The most common problems getting this to work are:

1. the plugin is not placed in the correct folder.
2. the version of Mac Runtime Java is too old.
3. the version of Netscape is too old. Must be 4.76 or above, though we find Netscape 6.2 to be very stable and feature-rich.

For Mac OSX

Download the MRJ Plugin for OSX here. The current version may have a larger version number than the one we mention below. The installation process should still be the same. There are two ways to install the current development release of the MRJ Plugin for Mac OS X:

1. The simplest method is to create an alias to the file "MRJPluginCarbon" in "/Library/Internet Plugins." As long as you leave the original "MRJPluginCarbon-1.0d8" folder intact somewhere on your hard disk, this will work just fine. See image below.
   
   
2. Copy the contents of the "MRJPluginCarbon-1.0d8" folder into "/Library/Internet Plugins." This should be a total of 4 files: MRJPlugin.jar, MRJPlugin.policy, MRJPlugin.properties
   and MRJPluginCarbon.

The first method is preferred, because you only have to add a single file to "/Library/Internet Plugins."

Method 1: Click image to see full size view.

3. Installation is now complete. You can test your installation by going here.

An additional tutorial for Netscape 7 which addresses further OS X java issues can be found here.

For Windows

Java is built into all Windows browsers (Explorer and Netscape). To enable Java in your browser, follow the appropriate menu path below. If you are using an older browser and the Illuminations Tools are not functioning properly, you only need to upgrade your browser.

• Netscape Communicator 4.7: Edit >> Preferences >> Advanced >> Enable Java and Javascript
• Internet Explorer 4.0: View >> Options >> Advanced >> Enable Java console and Java JIT compiler
• Internet Explorer 5.0: Tools >> Internet Options >> Security >> Custom Level >> Java permission >> High Safety.
• Internet Explorer 6.0: Internet Explorer 6 does not support Java, but that does not mean you have to do without Java. If you have Internet Explorer 4 or 5 on your PC and upgrade to 6, this latest version will inherit their ability to handle Java. Otherwise you will have to download the latest service pack mentioned below.
• Windows XP does not come with the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that is needed to run the Illuminations Tools. Users who wish to get the JVM before coming to Illuminations need to download the Windows XP Service Pack 1. Once this service pack is fully installed, the applets on Illuminations will function properly. MicroSoft provides additional information regarding Java on Windows XP.

After installing the JVM that comes with Service Pack 1, then do the same as IE 5.0: Tools >> Internet Options >> Security >> Custom Level >> Java permission >> High Safety.

QuickTime

QuickTime includes software that will allow your Internet browser to view QuickTime and other multimedia file formats in your web pages. QuickTime 3 or higher and the QuickTime 2.0.1 plug-in for Mac or Windows are needed to view the videos.

Downloading and installing the QuickTime software is not technically difficult, but it may be time consuming: specifically, it may take anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes to download and install this software. If you are using a computer in a networked setting, office or computer lab in your school, installing this software may be a task for your network administrator.

For Windows:

Installing QuickTime for Windows

1. QuickTime takes advantage of DirectDraw and DirectSound. It is important for you to have the latest drivers for your video and sound cards. You may also need the current version of DirectX.
2. Download Quicktime here. Follow the directions on the download pages. The software can be downloaded for free, though some user information must be provided.
3. On Windows 98 machines, a message comes up stating, "You have chosen to download a file - QuickTime Installer.exe," and you will be given the option of running the program from the current location or saving it to disk. Select Run from Current Location.
4. A second message asks, "Do you want to install and run QuickTime Installer?" Select Yes.
5. The QuickTime Installer comes up. Follow the detailed instructions. Most users will only need the minimum version of QuickTime .
6. QuickTime is then downloaded to your computer and installed into your Programs folder, and the required plug-ins are automatically placed in your internet browser.

For Macintosh:

Installing QuickTime for Macintosh

1. Download QuickTime here. Follow the directions on the download pages. It can be downloaded for free, though some user information will need to be provided.
2. Once the download is complete, double-click on the QuickTime Installer icon to open it.
3. Read the first window of the installation process and select continue. You will then be presented with a license agreement that you should review. Accept the license agreement by clicking Agree. You then select the type of installation you want to perform: Minimum, Full or Custom.
4. You do not need QuickTime Pro to watch the videos, so you can leave the next page blank. Choose Continue to install the software.

Installing the QuickTime Plug-In for Macintosh

1. Normally the QuickTime Plug-in is properly installed into every browser on your computer. If not, then you can install it manually.
2. The QuickTime Plug-In can be found in the QuickTime folder. Open the QuickTime folder and locate the plug-in.
3. Click and drag the plug-in to your Internet browser Plug-Ins folder.
4. Quit, and then relaunch, your Internet browser.