# Installing Java

PCGen 5.10.2 and higher requires Java version 1.5.0_x or higher. Previous versions (5.10.1 and below) will run under Java 1.4.x.

## On Windows Operating Systems

1. Open Start Menu
2. Open Programs
3. select MS-DOS Prompt (Alternately, you can click Start, then Run, and type ‘command’ in the window and hit ok)
4. type “java -version” (without the quotes)

You need to see the following or something similar:

`java version "1.5.0_11" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_11-b03) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_11-b03, mixed mode)`

If you see a correct version of java, close the MS-DOS window and you should be able to run PCGen.

If you do not see the correct version, close the MS-Dos window and go to http://java.com/ and download the latest non-beta version (currently 1.6.0_01 as of April 2007)

1. Click “Download Now”
2. Verify the version offered is suitable for your system, if not, click on “Download other Java software versions”
3. Click “Begin Download”
4. Follow the instructions to install Java

## On Macintosh/Apple Operating Systems

The Java Runtime Environment is only available on Mac OS X. Mac 8 & 9 users will have to use Virtual PC and install Java for Windows by following the Windows steps in the section above. For PCGen PCGen 5.10.2 (and higher) you’ll want to use Java 1.5.0_x. This means that you’ll need Mac OS 10.4.x to run the latest version of PCGen, e.g.

- Mac OS X 10.2.8 runs Java version 1.4.1_x.
- Mac OS X 10.3.3 runs Java version 1.4.2_x.
- Mac OS 10.4.x runs Java version 1.5.0_x.

Mac OS X users should be able to open a command line and type “java -version” (without the quotes). If you see java version 1.5.0_x (or higher) then you are good to go, though there have been some issues exporting to PDF under java 1.4.1 on Mac OS 10.2.

If you don’t have the right version, then visit http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/ and download Java for Mac OS X and install it. Then you should be ready to launch PCGen.

## On UNIX and Linux Operating Systems

1. Open a command prompt
2. type “java -version” (without the quotes)

You need to see the following or something similar:

`java version "1.5.0_11" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_11-b03) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_11-b03, mixed mode)`

If you see the correct version of java, close the command prompt window and you should be able to run PCGen.

If you do not see the correct version, close the command prompt window and go to http://java.com/ and download the latest non-beta version (currently 1.6.0_01)

1. Click “Download Now”
2. Verify the version offered is suitable for your system, if not, click on “Download other Java software versions”
3. Click “Begin Download”
4. Follow the instructions to install Java

Now you should be ready to launch PCGen.

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