You have heard about the never-ending debate between Microsoft and Sun. If you want to brush up on your industry infighting and legal backstabbing, go here. If you just want to know the gist, Microsoft did not include the Java Virtual Machine in their new release of Windows XP, so Internet Explorer cannot run some of the Internet's better bells and whistles.
The solution is easy. Download the Java Virtual Machine from the Microsoft website. You cannot uninstall it once you have installed it, but sooner or later you are going to run into a site that needs Java support.
Before you get into a downloading tizzy, you may already have the Java Virtual Machine. If you upgrade to XP from your old operating system, your old Virtual Machine will still exist. If not...GO! Download the JVM! Be free with your Java and love the Internet.
Get it here!