I run Linux on my netbook, and haven't been able to get to the chat for months with Firefox, Chromium or Opera; I get the empty black screen. Oddly, it was working fine earlier in the year, though I can't pinpoint exactly when it broke. I have the Java package installed as far as I can tell, and I haven't noticed any problems elsewhere on the web. Firefox runs the chat fine on the WinXP machine here, through the same internet connection.