I've developed a similar WebGL-based protein visualization tool (http://github.com/biasmv/pv http://github.com/biasmv/pv). WebGL has only become a serious optio

I've developed a similar WebGL-based protein visualization tool (http://github.com/biasmv/pv http://github.com/biasmv/pv). WebGL has only become a serious options in the past year or so. Before that, WebGL availability was a big blocker. Since the Java applets were working on a wider range of browsers people tended to stick with the established technology. This has certainly changed now as people also want to visualize proteins on their mobile devices.