Java and Ubuntu?

[Brett Kirksey]

I have a Windows using friend I told about Ubuntu. He's all for going 
Microsoft free. :-) Anyway, he got it running on his PC yesterday and 
has been checking out serveral of his most frequented Web pages. A 
couple contain Java applets that aren't working in FireFox. My question 
is, is Java supported in Ubuntu? If not, will it be eventually? If so, 
how do you get the applets working in FireFox?

Thanks
Brett