Also, is creating an applet that uses the java 6 plugin 2 thing any different than creating a normal applet?
just check the java version through javascript or java if its greater than 1.6.0_10 than its most probably java plugin2.
creating an applet in plugin 2 is no different, its the same only that the plugin that delivers the applet is much better and has some extra features (like new html parameters for launching a seperate vm or specifying vm arguments or using jnlp for the applet).