currently i have j2se 1.4 on my laptop

goto java.sun.com and download the linux bin

you'll get the file 
j2sdk-1.4.2_03-linux-i586.bin

you need executable permissions so become root
>$ su

then change the permissions
>$ chmod 777 j2sdk-1.4.2_03-linux-i586.bin

then execute the bin file
>$ ./j2sdk-1.4.2_03-linux-i586.bin

it will create the java folder, and you must move it to where you want it
>$ mv j2sdk-1.4.2_03 /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03

then i must create the proper links in my bin
>$ ln -s /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/bin/java /usr/bin/java
>$ ln -s /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/bin/javac /usr/bin/javac
>$ ln -s /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/bin/javah /usr/bin/javah
>$ ln -s /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/bin/appletviewer /usr/bin/appletviewer
>$ ln -s /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/bin/javadoc /usr/bin/javadoc
>$ ln -s /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/bin/jar /usr/bin/jar

Now we'll remove that jre that was installed
>$ rm -rf /usr/lib/j2se/1.4/jre

and we'll set up a new link to ours
>$ ln /usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/jre /usr/lib/j2se/1.4/jre

and finally in Opera, under preferences, under multimedia
make sure java is enabled and the path is set to...
/usr/lib/j2sdk-1.4.2_03/jre/lib/i386

Click validate path, and everything will work,
so go now, and play some yahoo! games

Finally, there's one flaw I still have to work on...
Java Applets don't seem to run in Mozilla 
so I will get back to you on how to fix this...