In the final draft of "Runtime Containment and Services" specification for JavaBeans(tm), two interfaces are defined: java.beans.beanscontext.BeansContextDelegate and java.beans.beanscontext.BeansContextChildComponent. These interfaces were added to the specification as a result of some valuable public feedback late in the Beta 4 development cycle. After careful consideration, these changes were not deemed to meet the very strict API change criteria for inclusion in Beta 4. Consequently, they won't be part of version 1.2 of the Java platform, but will be added in a subsequent version.
If you use the Java Plugin Control Panel to enable the Java Console window, this window appears the first time you run a Java Plugin applet. If you then close the Java Console window, you can't get it back without restarting your browser.
If your machine dual-boots Windows 95 and Windows NT and you want to use Java Plugin under both operating systems, you must install Java Plugin under both OSs, and you must use separate installation directories for each install.
The Swing package for creating HTML text editors, com.sun.java.swing.text.html, is being drastically revised and is not yet stable enough for serious development work. Developers working on HTML software should continue to use the Beta 3 release.
Various errors have been reported with the Just In Time bytecode compiler or JIT. If a program crashes with an inexplicable error, try running it with the JIT disabled. You can do this by setting the JAVA_COMPILER environment variable or java.compiler property to "NONE". For example:
java -Djava.compiler=NONE MyClass
appletviewer -J-Djava.compiler=NONE MyApplet.html
On Win32, Drag and Drop cannot transfer data from native applications to Java applications. (Bug 4119256.)
Due to various problems, Drag and Drop has been disabled on Solaris. It will be restore in a future release. (Bug 4153777.)
On some Solaris configurations, the supplied font properties file
(jre/lib/font.properties does not provide the correct
information. This problem will produce a series of "font not found"
messages, but does not affect basic software functionality. You may
want to edit the font properties file to fit your configuration. (Bug
4153597.)
On Windows 95, the Java2D demo may hang if two sounds are playing while
you switch panels. Changing the demo to use repaint()
instead of paint(getGraphics()) fixes the problem. (Bug
4149988.)
2D has problems rendering small Japanese fonts (bugs 4146752 and 4143164). As a workaround, Beta 4 still supports the use of host platform font services.
On Solaris, there is no callback following startDrag() in a TextField for drags initiated with Button 3. (Bug 4147423.)
On Windows, DropTarget doesn't sense dragOver accurately. (Bug 4107322.)
On both Solaris and Windows, JNI-converted AWT native code uses the wrong field IDs to access objects. (Bug 4107322.)
On Solaris, trying to use FilePermission for class paths with symbolic links will result in security exceptions in some cases. (Bug 4141872.)
When you install JDK 1.2 software on Win32, the installer adds a registry key:
\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Development Kit\1.2
The installer sets the value of the the key
\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Development Kit
to "1.2". This overwrites any existing setting.
If you previously installed JDK 1.1 software, the registry also contains the following branch:
\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Development Kit\1.1
Uninstalling the 1.2 software erases all Java Development Kit entries,
include any 1.1 entries. Before uninstalling 1.2 software, use the
Registry Editor to back up the 1.1 entries.