Getting the user's default browser in Java

Question

I want to know how to get the location of the user's default Internet browser in Java. How can I get this? I would prefer it as a URI to the browser's executable file. Must work cross-platform.

Answer 1

The safest thing you can do is something like this:

if (Desktop.isDesktopSupported()) 
{
  Desktop.getDesktop().browse("your url here");
}

more info on the Desktop class (mail, print, edit, etc) here

Answer 2

You should be using the Desktop class for this. This is the cross platform API that will invoke the default browser.