To be able to run JMeter, you will need at least JVM (Java Virtual Machine) 1.3 as part your computing environment. If the application you are testing requires HTTPS protocol support, then you will need to download JSSE, since 1.3 does not provide that support. Also, it does not perform as well as later Java versions. Version 1.4 or higher is the ideal JVM to run JMeter at its best.
Since JMeter is Java-based, it can run on any system that has a Java implementation—making it highly portable. As far as operating system is concerned, JMeter has been able to run on UNIX, Linux, Open VMS Alpha 7.3+, and Windows (98 or higher)—in fact on any platform that has a JVM running on it.
If you plan to recompile the JMeter source code, as you extend JMeter using the API provided in the JMeter release, you may need to use the Java compiler via some IDE, e.g. Eclipse or any other Java IDE. You may also opt to use Ant to build JMeter from source. However, there is no need for you to install...