title: Java: How to launch system's registered application for a URL
body: <p>In Java 5, is there a default way to pass a URL to the system and have it launch the application associated with it?
  For example http:// links would usually open IE or Firefox, but things like itms:// should open iTunes.</p>
  
  <p>If possible I would rather not use Runtime.exec() to start some external process directly, because this would be platform specific. If there is no other way, what would I call for Windows/OS X and Linux to cover the most popular ones?</p>