JavaFX Running In Opera 10.5 (a hack)

I just had to post this. After I posted about two weeks ago while using Opera 10.5 pre-alpha about how Opera failed to use the Java Plugin and hence could not display JavaFX applets, I finally got JavaFX to run in Opera. Awesome. See below for images of Opera 10.5 with and without the hack.

JavaFX Running in Opera 10.5

Opera 10.5 – no hack

Here is what you need:

1. Download the new version of Opera 10.5 beta, which supports the Java Plugin instead of their old way including applets
2. Download this Opera menu extension which provides an augmented developer menu
3. Change your User Agent to identify the browser as Internet Explorer or Mozilla by going to “O Menu (top-left)” – > Page Tools -> Developer -> User Agent -> Internet Explorer
4. Go to www.javafx.com, and you should get JavaFX to load in Opera smoothly (ok mine hanged a bit before it loaded the applet, but hey this is a beta so such things can be expected, but on refresh it loads in a Flash)

So now, all we need to do is wait for Oracle/Sun JavaFX engineers to update their browser detection code, so we do not have to use this hack.

KAN CMS Alpha 2 Is All About Components

KAN CMS development is still on going, and we are headed for a new alpha release, with focus this time on Components. We are trying very hard to make Components an easier to use feature with KAN with the addition all several new features and a couple of changes to the existing system, API and platform.

The War On IE 6

Recently Google openly declared that it would be dropping support for IE6 for most of its applications such as Google Docs and GMail. That is a bold step I side with. In the recent times, for all the web development work I do, I do not even bother to test in IE6 because I do not care for the user experience in that browser. Most of my work has been to develop content management related products for my websites, and I know most of my users are developers who are up to date with all the recent browser trends so they are well equipped for my products.

However, recently I got bitten in the ass by this lack of support for IE6 when a client viewed a website I created in it, and the result was terrible. I viewed the site myself and I was shocked by the horrors I came face to face with. See below for expected results and what IE6 renders;

Why Doesn’t Opera Support JavaFX?

UPDATE 05/02/2010

The following article has been updated to be more concise with respect to the way JavaFX is implemented in the various browsers. Opera does not support the Java Plugin in general.

I’ve been a serious Opera user since the first version of the Opera 9 series, and I’m currently running Opera 10.5 pre-alpha. It is a great product and it indeed does make web development fun. I do almost all my web development in Opera and only test in other browsers when I need to. I know for a fact, that since Opera supports standards, almost all my CSS layout and Javascript code will work in Firefox, Safari, Chrome and most often IE 8 (IE 6 and 7 are my back case), right out of the IDE. Most often, if I have to do some code refactoring, it would be for some IE specific quirk (I know most of you know of this pain).

However, I’ve been meaning to try out JavaFX for a while now, but I’ve not made the switch to it yet, simply because Opera does not support it, which is very frustrating.