Marvin is Java based and so can run on all major operating systems.
Marvin products come in various packages for users with different needs:
Marvin Applets are targeted at the Web Developer who builds chemical
Internet/Intranet sites.
The package contains:
- MarvinSketch:
- Applet for editing and visualizing structures, queries and reactions on a web page.
- MarvinView:
- Applet for viewing structures, queries and reactions on a web page.
- MarvinSpace:
- Applet for 3D molecule visualization.
Note, that the applets are signed that allows the same feature set as the applications.
Both Marvin Applets and Applications runs on all major platform where Java is available. Marvin supports only Sun distributed Java. On Mac platform (where Sun Java is not available), it supports Apple's Mac OS X built-in Java that is compatible with Sun's distribution.
Both Marvin Applets and Applications require at least Java 1.4.2. But newer Java versions (like 1.5.x or 1.6.x) is recommended.
In the near future, Sun closes support for Java 1.4.2. Since Marvin/JChem 5.2, we update the minimum Java requirement for our products to Java 1.5. Sun has declared supporting period for current Java releases. The following table shows these dates. You can read more about Java support road map on the Sun's site: Java Technology EOL policy
| Sun's Java Release Family | End of Service Life |
|---|---|
| 1.4 | October 30, 2008 |
| 5.0 | October 30, 2009 |
| 6 | 2010* |
Further requirements for applets: To be able to launch any Marvin applets, you need a Java 2 enabled browser that support the required Java version.
You can download Sun's Java from the Sun's site. Select the Java Runtime Environment from the Download section.
If you use Mac OS X, hopefully, Java has been already installed to your machine. If not, check-in Java in the Software Update center to installation/update.
Firstly, download the Marvin Applets package from the Marvin site:
Download Marvin for Developers.
Select the proper archive (.tar.gz is recommended for Unix-like platforms, .zip for others). You need a forum account to be able to download. Accept the License Agreement (on the upper part of the page) before submit the download process.
On the download page, beside the link of the required downloadable file, you can find the link to the proper installation guide. Follow the instructions that are described there.
The Marvin Applications are distributed in the Marvin Beans package that you can download from the following page: Download Marvin for End Users. Select the proper downloadable for your platform and follow the installation instructions.