LW Pro International
 

Hi Sberlin (& LOTR)

I am not sure your answer, about the problems by having a Java selection feature, has been fully thought out. If, as you say, the current LW Pro loads up Java before it starts then why can't the suggested selection feature say "restart after selecting new version of Java".

As you know, lots of windows applications have to be restarted after selecting or updating a major feature, LW is no different because you have to restart it after doing an incremental update.

Finally, I think that LOTR's suggestion has a lot of merit, i.e. ship versions of LW Pro with alternative installers and, if I may extend the idea, with and without Java.




UK Bob

We do plan to ultimately merge the international & English installer. The reason they must exist separately now is so that we can 100% guarantee that the JRE supports international characters. The one downloaded by the English installer does not always support international characters, because the download is much larger (and the vast majority of people don't need it). Until we can come up with a viable solution for this, the two installers are going to remain separate. Rest assured, though, that we're looking at it.

As far as selecting the version of Java within LimeWire -- we have thought it out. It is not as simple as "restart now". The setting is maintained in a way that makes it easy for a Java program to read, not in a way that makes it easy for a C/C++ program to read (which is what LimeWire.exe is, launching a JVM and starting LimeWire within it). Yes, we could spend time adding this functionality to LimeWire.exe, but in all honestly it isn't worth it. Choosing the JRE is way too advanced for any user and can cause a whole load of problems. Choosing the version of Java is outside the scope of LimeWire. It is a system issue.

We already do ship LimeWire with and without Java. If you download the English version, it comes without Java. If you download the international version, it comes with Java. Unfortunately, for the time being the version of Java it comes with is 1.3. If you do not want to use 1.3, do not use the international installer.

Can someone explain to me again why using the English installer isn't an option? That really will solve every problem you've mentioned.

The international installer has solved many people's installation problems. Until the installation issue is addressed, people will continue to have installation problems. lol you made no mention of my suggestion. :D

I think you're confused by the names of the installers. There is no such thing as an "English version" of LimeWire. There is just an InstallShield installer which we dub the English installer because it doesn't include an international JRE and an InstallAnywhere installer that we dub the International installer because it does include an international JRE. The LimeWire contained in each is 100% exactly the same.

The entire point of the 'English' installer is to not include a JRE, and to download one at install-time if it finds the using doesn't have a JRE. Conversely, the point of the "International" installer is to include an international JRE.

We are going to remove these two installers and make a single installer that can choose which JRE to get (and also get 1.4 instead of 1.3) at some point in time. That will ultimately solve all the various Java version problems. Until then, we're not doing anything with the installers.

If you want to use a newer version of Java, use the English installer. If you don't, use the International installer. If the English installer doesn't work, you can try the International installer and then delete the 'jre' directory in C:\Program Files\LimeWire. I can't guarantee that'll work, but it should.

It's still an imperfect solution. Why choose 2 different types of installers in the 1st place? There was obviously a reason for doing so. Perhaps to counter for alternative versions & set-ups of OS - unless it was more related to java installation. Besides, we've established that there is an issue with installation using the InstallShield installer for a reasonable no. of people. So how do you intend to cater for these people in the future? What type of installer will you use - or is that still in the think tank?

Windows has so many bugs. Aerogarde please. Ah why don't people use macs instead. lol :D

We're probably going to use Nullsoft's installer. The reason for using InstallAnywhere was that we use it anyway to package up the Linux installer, and used to use it for the Mac Classic & OSX installers. It allowed easy packaging of a JRE, which we needed for the international scenario.

The 'english' version isn't working on my computer - that's the problem - it just won't open up. Clicking on it does nothing, it's like a plane takes off flying but is shot down before it gets above ground.

So, I installed the international version. It works every time now, but after running it for more than 5 minutes, it causes my computer to not respond to anything for about 15 seconds then restarts it automatically.

I deleted the JRE folder and it seems to be working fine at the moment... but I suspect it will still crash. I'll let you know what happens.

Yup it crashed.

Did you follow all the suggestions in regards to deleting Java 1.3 & then updating Java at http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_automatic.jsp It's one thing to delete the earlier verion of Java, but (1) you must have a later version of java installed & (2) Did you activate the newer version of Java thru the control panels?

Yeah... got rid of 1.3, so of course I made sure it didn't work (and it didn't). I installed the latest version of Java and LW works. Same problem though. Shuts down the comp randomly for no apparent reason.