The Software: A Compatible Browser and Chime

Molecules at the BioMolecular Explorer 3D web site are accessed using a compatible browser and MDL Chime software.

• Compatible browsers are:
  1. Netscape 4.8: fully compatible with all BME3D materials, link to installer and instructions is provided. Most stable for tutorials.
  2. Netscape 7.2, Firefox, Mozilla: minor incompatibility - more info.
  3. Internet Explorer: compatible with only some resources, as noted in list of molecules (see Explore the Molecules page). More info.


• MDL Chime: a "plug-in" that equips certain browsers to display molecular structures. Link to download and installation instructions is provided.

The Installation: First, choose the browser you would like to use:

More Information on Browsers

Internet Explorer (IE) is not fully compatible with Chime. This is beyond our control. While some simple Chime tutorials will work properly in IE (on Windows only) some of the more complicated ones don't. Some controls fail or give incorrect results or incorrect images. We have indicated which tutorials work in IE and which do not on the Explore the Molecules page.

Netscape 7.2, Firefox, and Mozilla browsers appear to work well. These browsers seem to work quite well with Chime, so far. BME3D tutorials have only recently been made compatible with these browsers and so are not as thoroughly tested as with Netscape 4.8. The only known incompatibility is that buttons in a few tutorials that should control font size do not work.