First, make sure you have a working installation of the Java platform. To run jEdit, you will a platform package having a version number of at least 1.3. Versions 1.3, 1.3.1 or 1.4 will all work. If you do not have the Java platform, we recommend downloading the larger “Software Development Kit” (SDK), instead of the smaller “Java Runtime Environment” (JRE), because you will need the tools supplied with the SDK if you will be using Java for development. You will need to know the path of the Java application launcher, which is called java.exe on Windows systems and simply java on others.

Next, decide whether you want the current stable version or the latest development version. The stable version is a good choice for first-time users. Download the Java installer for the version you have chosen from the jEdit web site; it consists of a single file with a name in the style jeditXXXinstall.jar. This file is a compressed archive containing all of the files you need for jEdit to run as well as an installer application written in Java. You can put this file anywhere on your hard disk that is convenient.

To run the installer, do whatever you normally do to run a Java jar archive. If this is your first time, follow these steps:

The installer will load and display a series of dialogs for selecting a few simple options, including the directory in which you wish jEdit installed. It will also tell you how much disk space you need for the main program and various installation options.

If this is your first download of jEdit, you should definitely install the set of macros that come with the application. Many of them are useful for all programmers, and even the ones you don't use can serve as models when you eventually begin writing your own macros.

The installation process is very short. If you are installing the program on Windows and you select the jEditLauncher option, you should be able to start jEdit by clicking on any of the icons that the installation program provides. On other systems, you can enter jedit in a terminal window or create your own desktop or menu shortcut.

In Java Web Start, dynamically-loaded classes (ie, plugins) run in a sandbox unless they are explicitly signed. Also, the protocol handler API prevents protocol handlers from being added if they are not loaded via the system class loader (i.e via the Java Web Start class loader). So the lack of plugin support and jeditresource protocol makes it useless.

Simply delete the existing jEdit directory and run the installer (if any) to install the new version. Settings are kept in ~/.jedit, and will not be affected.

The latest version of jEdit, version 4.1, requires MacOS X, because the Java platforms of earlier MacOS version out outdated.

The following steps outline how to install jEdit 3.2.2 on Mac OS 9.1 and earlier.

Once you have completed installing jEdit locate the jedit.jar file and do the following:

There are no system files, so simply drop the jEdit folder in the trash. If you want to remove the settings directory used by jEdit you will find it at ~/.jedit. It is hidden, so you will need to remove it from the command line, or use one of the various uilities available that will let you see it.

For the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems, jEdit provides an additional package of features called jEditLauncher. These features include:

The package is a recommended option that is selected by default when you install jEdit. The Java installer application launches a separate Windows installer module for the native Windows executables that comprise the jEditLauncher package. If the installation involves an upgrade, you may be asked to reboot your computer to complete the process.

Regardless of the version of Windows that you use, if you have kept it reasonably up-to-date with service packs or component upgrades from Microsoft, you should have no trouble running jEditLauncher. Users of Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT (version 4.0), Windows 2000 and Windows XP have not reported problems involving missing components.

Some users of older versions of Windows 95 may need to upgrade their version of the Windows Sockets package. Others may be missing Microsoft's package for supporting DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model) components on Windows 95. Both the Windows Sockets upgrade and the DCOM package are available for download from Microsoft.

The latest version of jEdit, version 4.1, requires at least version 1.3 of the Java 2 platform, and therefore will not be compatible with Microsoft's virtual machine.

You can run jEdit version 3.2.2 if you put Sun's Swing 1.1.1 package in the classpath of Microsoft's Java application loaders jview or wjview. An article describing the advantages and disadvantages of doing this, and detailing the necessary procedures, may be found on the jEdit Community web site.