Thats a problem with the Sun installer(or possibly the OEM install process), not MapTool. Java won't run from the command line either in this case. The WebStart will likely work without a problem, but in order to get the downloaded files to run, you would need to:
- Uninstall Java
- Reboot. This step is VITAL!!!!
- install latest java from java.com
On the computers where those messages are found, if you open a command prompt and type: java -version
you will get a 'command not found' type error. Once reinstalling, if you can do the above, the MapTool jar should work without a problem.
However... to get back to your original comments, you are right.... MapTool is not designed to be a real map editor and has far less map editing capabilities that FM8 or Dundjinni. It will work in a pinch for most thing for simple maps (assuming you have enough/the right textures or objects in your resource library). The main drawback is that there is no way to add drop shadows which is something that really helps maps stand out when created in other programs.
Disclaimer: I have done a number of bug fixes and a few feature additions to the MapTool code and plan to be part of the next re-write for version 1.4 beginning next year.