Embedding Applets on Web Page

There are two main ways to embed Applets on a Web Page:

1. Using the Applet tag.
2. Using the Object / Embed tag.

The Applet tag is supported across the major browsers, but has the following drawbacks:

1. Not possible to present link to users to download the Java plugin.
2. It's marked as deprecated in the HTML standards, though it's likely to be supported by major browsers for a long time.
3. May not work well in some cases for IE.

While with the Object / Embed tag, it is possible to present a link to users to download the Java plugin, it is more difficult to implement, primarily because Object only works in IE, and Embed in other browsers. It will then be necessary to either have server-side logic or Javascript logic to create the appropriate tag for the browser.

References:

1. http://download.oracle.com/javase/1,5.0/docs/guide/plugin/developer_guide/using_tags.html
2. http://depth-first.com/articles/2008/02/20/demystifying-java-applets-part-1-cross-browser-standards-compliant-pure-html-deployment-using-the-object-tag/