[en] LASNEX calculations for focused laser beams on spherical targets have been performed for laser wavelengths of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 microns. One-dimensional calculations, including the ponderomotive force, show a profile steepening that determines the fractional absorption by anomalous mechanism. However, increased absorption occurs at the shorter wavelengths because of more efficient inverse bremsstrahlung absorption at the higher critical densities. In general, the absorption efficiency increases with shorter laser wavelength and decreases with increasing f-number of the illuminating optics for sufficiently long plasma scale lengths. The effect of the absorption and laser wavelength on the thermal and superthermal electron physics will be discussed along with the combined effects on the implosion performance. Certain aspects of two-dimensional LASNEX calculations are presented