Apple deprecates Java

[berry120]

http://www.devdaily.com/mac-os-x/apple-mac-java-deprecated-os-x-sdk-jvm

Apple have quietly announced the deprecation of Java with a release note in their latest upgrade:

"As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the version of Java that is ported by Apple, and that ships with Mac OS X, is deprecated...This means that the Apple-produced runtime will not be maintained at the same level, and may be removed from future versions of Mac OS X. The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products."

It's an interesting move but essentially I read that as "we're canning Java support after snow leopard." I wonder if Oracle will provide something, or perhaps there will be a huge open source effort? It's going to be no small task to provide a working VM for OSX from scratch...

Thoughts?

 

[Celegorm]

Big mistake on Apple's side IMO. Java is nice as it can run on pretty much anything and removes most of the OS limits that other languages have. I can see the number (as small as it is) of developers who use Mac going down even more.

 

[Kage]

Why are they pulling the plug on software that is needed?

First Flash, and now Java? In my opinion though, Java is slower than Flash

I just don't like how Apple run at all. Let whoever's running their own damn computer decide what they can run and what they can't, sheesh

 

[berry120]

First Flash, and now Java? In my opinion though, Java is slower than Flash

Flash and Java aren't equivalent at all - you can't really compare the speed of one to the other. If Java for Mac disappears it's not just the applets that will disappear, we're talking about all the desktop applications out there that are written in Java as well!

I see what they're trying to do but I honestly think this is a silly move. Fair enough with flash - it's being replaced by HTML5's canvas anyway. But Java currently is the best at what it does, there's no other language out there that provides such a cross platform base with such ease. It's definitely not going to wash well with developers - I know several who have macs but have decided they won't in the next few years because of this move! Guess we're just going to have to write everything in objective-C, but in my view this is going to decrease the amount of available applications available on the mac, not increase it.

 

[Kage]

What I meant by that berry, was that if they are bothered about speed, and potential crashes; Java slows a PC down a lot more than a Flash application does, regardless of the way it operates.

 

[David Lindon]

Seems very silly in my opinion, apple products were just starting to become alot more mainstream but this will only push them back to a niche product with limited functionality

 

[foothead]

I kinda wonder if they're doing this in an attempt to fragment java. What's going to happen is developers will have to either develop in an old version of java in order to have it run on Mac OS, develop in newer versions, in which case it will only run on Windows, or develop both. What will ultimately happen is developers who want their applications to be cross-platform are going to shift to something else.

I really wouldn't be surprised if this is their intent after the whole flash thing.

 

[cboucher]

This really doesn't surprise me. Apple has always had a proprietary nature since their inception. They should be careful, though. You get too greedy and you might screw yourself right out of the market...

 

[root]

meh, what are we really saying here?

open office is going to stop working? (that's the most high profile java based software I can think of).

I can't see developers dropping java, it's good at what it does, all this means is that Mac's are going to get less software written

 

[berry120]

What I meant by that berry, was that if they are bothered about speed, and potential crashes; Java slows a PC down a lot more than a Flash application does, regardless of the way it operates.

This is true (though hopefully the situation will improve drastically when Java 8 gets released with project jigsaw built in.) But then again Java can do a lot more than Flash can so it's really just about picking the best tool for the job. I agree though some people pick the wrong one!

I kinda wonder if they're doing this in an attempt to fragment java. What's going to happen is developers will have to either develop in an old version of java in order to have it run on Mac OS, develop in newer versions, in which case it will only run on Windows, or develop both. What will ultimately happen is developers who want their applications to be cross-platform are going to shift to something else.

I really wouldn't be surprised if this is their intent after the whole flash thing.

New versions of Mac OS likely won't support any version of Java, the older versions that were supported on previous OS's are unlikely to see support carry through.

It seems to me that Apple are shifting their focus somewhat - they're moving away from the "we sell PCs" model and focusing more on embedded / niche devices (as they have been for some time.) They want control over everything that executes on their platform, Java isn't in their control so it's been excluded.

Yes, it means Java apps won't be supported on a Mac, and there's no doubt it alienates developers. But on the other hand they're really encouraging developers to take up objective c and develop just for the Mac by providing the business model they need to work right there. They'll have the appstore, they'll have the APIs and everything else just works. It worked for the ipad / iphone so it'll work for everything else. At least that's the idea.

The one side effect from this is I wouldn't be surprised if the powerhouse style big desktop Macs disappeared altogether. Whilst people might put up with not being able to develop on a laptop / tablet, I doubt people will put up with not being able to do what they want on a multi-£1000 powerhouse!