As I've heard from a number of people who have downloaded the recent Java Updates, they have lost the ability to see colours in LiveChat.
Java is aware of the problem, and are working on a permanent solution for this issue.
More information about it can be found here:
Java and LiveChat Colour IssuesAnd until Java releases a patch to fix this problem, anyone who has lost colour in LC can regain it by deleting the new Java Update.
Here's how to do it:
There is an even easier solution to this problem that will work for most users who have updated to the new Java client but want their old chatroom color capabilities back again. If you look up the Java Runtime Client in the add/remove programs list in the Windows Control Panel, you'll soon realize that installing the latest version of these clients does NOT wipe out the old one. The Sun folks opted to play it safe and leave the old version untouched whenever the user installs a new one. Because of this, it's really NOT necessary to go and download the older version and reinstall it. Instead, just go to add/remove programs and REMOVE the Java version 6.0 installation As soon as you do that, the latest version available on your machine will be the prior release where the colors worked fine. And the next time you start a chat session your colors will work again.
Later, when the hard-working folks at AddOnChat get their apps updated and tested to ensure they conform to the new color-handling techniques used by Sun's latest version of the Java client, you'll be able to redownload the new version of the Java Client and everythng should work just fine.
I tested this technique on my own laptop today and it worked fine. Then I suggested the same technique to two other users in the room who were having the no colors problem and it worked for them too. No problems at all. So my guess is it will work for you too unless you uninstalled the old version of the Java Client either before or after you switched to the new one. In that case, just follow Chris' suggestions above and download the older version of Java again. Then uninstall the 6.0 version and reinstall the last release of version 5 and everything should be cool again.
Good Luck!
I hope that anyone who has lost their colour, can get it back now!