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The
Archive |
This Commentary presents the JFC team's answers
to a series of questions about the new look-and-feel implementations
that were recently added to the Swing set.
Recently our team delivered, to the surprise of some, the first version of a Java look-and-feel. We hope this early distribution comes as a welcome surprise to your development efforts. This look and feel is the first of what we expect to be many look-and-feel designs in the development of Java-based solutions for the enterprise. In the spirit of our evolving releases, we provided this look and feel to get as much feedback as possible in the shortest amount of time.
Q. Why was a Java Look and Feel developed? A. To provide a common interface for developers that are deploying applications and services in a heterogeneous computing environment. As such, we anticipate other look and feel designs to be developed for other environments.
Q. Are other native look and feel designs available? A. Yes. With the Swing 0.6.1 build (http://java.sun.com/jdc), we added pluggable look and feels for the Windows and UNIX platforms, with the Macintosh to follow shortly.
Q. Why is there a locking mechanism on the Windows look and feel? A. We have not determined that we have the right to deliver the Windows look and feel on platforms other than Windows. If Microsoft were to confirm our right to deliver this look and feel on other operating systems, we would be delighted to remove the lock. To date, Microsoft has declined to do this.
Q. How do I get involved in the process to provide you with input on the Look and Feel provided? A. As with all Java API development at Sun, our process includes partner input through all phases of development. Because the input of our partner community was particularly important with JFC, The Java Foundation Classes Advisory Council was established in July of this year to focus our development efforts. At this stage, we are now prepared to manage feedback from a larger development community. As such, the Swing Feedback alias (swing-feedback@java.sun.com), in the subject line of your mail, please highlight "JLF Feedback". We are pleased to advise that in this short time, we have received an overwhelming number of responses and we appreciate the support. We encourage your continued input. --The Java Foundation Classes Team |