diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 5d4981c..e616187 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -107,15 +107,15 @@
 		<echo>Building java classes in ${java.bin}...</echo>
 		<javac srcdir="${java.src}" 
 			destdir="${java.bin}" 
-			listfiles="true" debug="on" fork="yes" />
+			listfiles="true" debug="on" source="1.4" />
 		<echo>Building java sample classes ...</echo>
 		<javac srcdir="${java.samples}" 
 			destdir="${java.bin}" 
-			listfiles="true" debug="on" fork="yes" />
+			listfiles="true" debug="on" source="1.4" />
 		<echo>Building java test classes...</echo>
 		<javac srcdir="${java.unittest}" 
 			destdir="${java.bin}" 
-			listfiles="true" debug="on" fork="yes" />
+			listfiles="true" debug="on" source="1.4" />
 	</target>
 	<!-- ======================================================================
 	      Package the classes into a JAR.    
diff --git a/docs/ReleaseNotes.html b/docs/ReleaseNotes.html
index f778d1a..2ee23e2 100644
--- a/docs/ReleaseNotes.html
+++ b/docs/ReleaseNotes.html
@@ -31,6 +31,13 @@
   <tr>
     <td width="100%" colspan="2"><b>Patches</b></td>
   </tr> 
+  <tr>
+    <td width="13%">SF1493647</td>
+    <td width="87%">Support command line parameter dll location specification.  
+    		Applets and other tools can now specificy the dll location that 
+    		is fed to a System.load() rather than System.loadLibrary for the 
+    		situation where the app can't write the dll to a library path directory.</td>
+  </tr>
   <tr>
     <td width="13%">&nbsp;</td>
     <td width="87%">&nbsp;</td>
diff --git a/src/com/jacob/com/ComThread.java b/src/com/jacob/com/ComThread.java
index 774589f..e4c1c67 100644
--- a/src/com/jacob/com/ComThread.java
+++ b/src/com/jacob/com/ComThread.java
@@ -149,6 +149,6 @@ public abstract class ComThread {
      * any other reference to one of the JacboObject subclasses is made.
      */
     static {
-    	JacobObject.loadJacobLibrary();
+    	LibraryLoader.loadJacobLibrary();
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/com/jacob/com/JacobObject.java b/src/com/jacob/com/JacobObject.java
index f54f5d8..9332c78 100644
--- a/src/com/jacob/com/JacobObject.java
+++ b/src/com/jacob/com/JacobObject.java
@@ -62,15 +62,6 @@ public class JacobObject {
     }
 
     
-    /**
-     * 
-     * loads the jacob library dll
-     *
-     */
-    protected static void loadJacobLibrary(){
-        System.loadLibrary("jacob");
-    }
-
     /**
      * Loads version information from version.properties that was 
      * built as part of this release.
@@ -156,7 +147,7 @@ public class JacobObject {
      * force the jacob DLL to be loaded whenever this class is referenced
      */
     static {
-    	JacobObject.loadJacobLibrary();
+    	LibraryLoader.loadJacobLibrary();
     }
     
     
diff --git a/src/com/jacob/com/LibraryLoader.java b/src/com/jacob/com/LibraryLoader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65afc6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/com/jacob/com/LibraryLoader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 1999-2004 Sourceforge JACOB Project.
+ * All rights reserved. Originator: Dan Adler (http://danadler.com).
+ * Get more information about JACOB at http://sourceforge.net/projects/jacob-project
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package com.jacob.com;
+
+/**
+ * Utility class to centralize the way in which the jacob JNI library is loaded.
+ *
+ * <p>If system property {@link #JACOB_DLL_PATH} is defined, the file located there
+ * will be loaded as the jacob dll.  If the system property is not defined, normal
+ * library paths will be used to load the jacob dll. This means it defaults to the 
+ * previous behavior for existing applications.
+ * <p>
+ * Submitted sourceforge ticket 1493647
+ * @author Scott Dickerson (sjd78)
+ */
+public final class LibraryLoader {
+	/**
+	 * Name of system property (currently <tt>jacob.dll.path</tt>) that may contain
+	 * an absolute path to the JNI library.
+	 */
+	public static final String JACOB_DLL_PATH = "jacob.dll.path";
+
+
+	/**
+	 * Load the jacob dll either from an absolute path defined in system property
+	 * {@link #JACOB_DLL_PATH} or as a general library called "<tt>jacob</tt>".
+	 */
+	public static void loadJacobLibrary() {
+		String path = System.getProperty(JACOB_DLL_PATH);
+		if (path != null) {
+			System.load(path);
+		}
+		else {
+			System.loadLibrary("jacob");
+		}
+	}
+
+
+} // LibraryLoader
diff --git a/src/com/jacob/com/ROT.java b/src/com/jacob/com/ROT.java
index 67ae0f9..518c93e 100644
--- a/src/com/jacob/com/ROT.java
+++ b/src/com/jacob/com/ROT.java
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ public abstract class ROT {
      * so we force a DLL load here by referncing JacobObject
      */
     static {
-    	JacobObject.loadJacobLibrary();
+    	LibraryLoader.loadJacobLibrary();
     }
     
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/com/jacob/com/STA.java b/src/com/jacob/com/STA.java
index 7c51ea6..64b62b0 100644
--- a/src/com/jacob/com/STA.java
+++ b/src/com/jacob/com/STA.java
@@ -93,6 +93,6 @@ public class STA extends Thread {
      * the DLL without this
      */
     static {
-    	JacobObject.loadJacobLibrary();
+    	LibraryLoader.loadJacobLibrary();
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file