Sorry if the answer for this is somewhere in an old thread but I am running the older version of Java for my TWS and am afraid to use the newest one 1.4 ? Any other elite traders have problems in switching so they are also staying with old version? Also for those who switched to new version what is better about it? seth
I switched and I have not encountered any problems. Same as always. The new Java update just allows it to interface with more web applications. After reviewing IB web site I noticed that if you were to download the Trader Workstation for the first time it would require you to use the new Java version 1.4.01 and download that also. I decided to do it, thinking that IB is using its features, or may require some of those features in the near future. I also thought that with any new added features that IB might have that there could be problems if I did not have the latest Java upgrade. Like I say I have had no problems and everything seems same as usual.
It appears to be slower with other programs including the TWS on anything less than 800 mHz pIII Josh
I had to go back to 1.3.1 I use other Java software and the new 1.4 VM got really slow after about 10 minutes. Swing is much faster in 1.4, so I'll try again when 1.4 gets released
I went to 1.4 Java a few weeks ago with TWS and it wasn't a pleasant experience. I don't know if I did something wrong or if the TWS version wasn't so good with 1.4 then or if my system just couldn't handle it (it's on an older computer.) The symptoms I would get were all similar to that of a memory leak or steady exhaustion of system resources over a short period of time with eventual system freeze up (anywhere from 1 minute to a few hours later after starting TWS.) Before I upgraded to 1.3 TWS had been running great for months - no computer/software problems with it really. After having problems with 1.4 I noticed that some of my system crash reports indicated crashing in my video driver software. I also noticed on the IB FAQ's that I should have uninstalled 1.3 java before putting 1.4 on (1.4 didn't automatically uninstall 1.3 or something like that at the time.) I was really getting frustrated and figured it was time for a new machine (or upgrade) and I wasn't looking forward to that (of course not - I had trading to do!) Anyway in the process of all this I eventually uninstalled 1.4 & 1.3 and just installed 1.4 but still had problems. I eventually yanked 1.4 and went back to just 1.3. Viola - TWS worked as it had for months before without all the problems I had gotten that week trying to run 1.4. So ... as you can imagine ... I'm not looking forward to going to 1.4 again! TWS versions have changed and I'm sure 1.4 has had some fixes to it since then but I feel that I may also find that the problem is my older system. I noticed on the IB message boards some people complaining recently (last couple days) of similar problems that I had with their 1.4 upgrade. One person mentioned that the latest DirectX software must be installed and that you should make sure you have the most recent video driver updates installed for your card. (This sounds similar to the crashes I was getting in my video driver software.) Actually this is a perfect time for me to test this all out and possibly do my upgrade to my system if I need to. I can't really trade much for the next few weeks due to responsibilities being the stay at home dad while the kids are not at a summer camp and still waiting for school to start back up. I imagine 97% of people won't have any problem but for anyone that has an older system and some symptoms like mine after you upgrade then perhaps my post here might start you thinking of possible things to look at. I wish I could be more specific but since I ended up taking the 'easy road' and downgrading to 1.3 last time I had problems I really can't be sure where the problems were or what the solution would be. My main reason for sharing that I had a problem is that it can be frustrating to ask if anyone has had any problems and instead get a bunch of replies saying how well things are running for others. - David