title: Don't want to ask users to download JRE
body: <p>My question is similar to the one asked in this forum in 2010 - "is JRE installed in Windows &amp; Linux?". And I am wondering if things have changed since then</p>
  
  <p>In particular, my site hosts a downloadable Java application that basically transmits specific files from the user's PC to our server. But every now and then I find that some of my users - all non-techies - don't have JRE installed. And hence, I have to ask them to install JRE first.</p>
  
  <p>Asking users to download something before they can start using my application can only ruin the end user experience. Understandably, that is a no-no. And so, I am ready to re-implement the application. But before I can propose re-implementing the app in some other technology - like Qt - I need facts to make a case. In particular, I would like to know </p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Is it safe to assume that any PC with an OS that is XP or above would have JRE installed on it? </li>
  <li>Is Qt a viable - and preferable - option for making a "download-now-use-now" type of application? Don't Qt applications need a JRE equivalent too?</li>
  <li>Are Qt applications able to update themselves like Java apps can? </li>
  <li>Other than having to maintain/compile multiple versions of Qt, are there any other disadvantages to using Qt?</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Thanks for your responses
  Abhinav</p>