What with the newly [/in progress] redesigned company website and all, I've been looking at re-releasing a Java shareware app on Windows. Last time we saw our heroes, that involved wrapping Java files with a .exe that would check for a Java VM and, if one was found, fire up the application like a native app. If nothing was there, it'd give instructions on how to download one.

(Aside: I'm still debating adding a fancier, Java 1.1.x -- and therefore Windows out-of-the-box compatible -- catchall that'll fire up with limited functionality that'll hold the user's hand through a JVM download and install. I suppose the smart version [see below] would do this in VB6 or similar.)

This article, "Convert Java to EXE Why, When, When Not and How," seems to be a pretty good sum. I'm not absolutely sure what I used before, but it was a particularly solid, pay-to-play solution. I've looked through two of the open source options from that article, and they aren't nearly as sharp. Luckily the article also explains how to write your own wrapper, in very general terms. Perhaps I'll find time to try that this summer.