code: public static final void launchBrowser(String url) throws IOException {
  		try {
  			if (isMac()) {
  				Class macUtils = Class.forName("com.apple.mrj.MRJFileUtils");
  				Method openURL = macUtils.getDeclaredMethod("openURL", new Class[] {String.class});
  				openURL.invoke(null, new Object[] {url});
  			}
  			else if (isWindows())
  				Runtime.getRuntime().exec("rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler " + url);
  			else { //assume Unix or Linux
  	            String[] browsers = {
  	               "firefox", "opera", "konqueror", "mozilla", "netscape" };
  	            String browser = null;
  	            for (int count = 0; count < browsers.length && browser == null; count++)
  	               if (Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] {"which", browsers[count]}).waitFor() == 0)
  	                  browser = browsers[count];
  	            if (browser == null)
  	               throw new Exception("Could not find web browser.");
  	            else
  	               Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] {browser, url});
  	            }
  	         }
  	      catch (Exception e) {
  	         throw new IOException("Error attempting to launch web browser");
  	      }
  	}
docs: Launches a browser opening an URL.
  
  @param url the URL you want to open in the browser
  @throws IOException