14 DAY TRIAL // Through its Security site, Apple announced yesterday that Java for OS X was being updated. The information provided by the Cupertino giant is scarce, but we have the full scoop for you in the paragraphs below.
First off, here’s Apple’s terse description of the new Java for OS X 2014-001.
“Java for OS X 2014-001 includes installation improvements, and supersedes all previous versions of Java for OS X. This package installs the same version of Java 6 included in Java for OS X 2013-005. This update uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers. To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled ‘Missing plug-in’ to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.”
For those of you who are surprised by Apple’s decision to uninstall the Java applet plug-in from all web browsers, don’t be. It’s a thing they’ve been doing for a while to protect you against security threats (Java being one of the most targeted platforms by cybercrooks).
To get the latest version of Java (currently that’s Java 7), Apple recommends that you go straight to java.com and grab it from there. The Cupertino company no longer collaborates with Oracle on these updates, at least not like they used to, so Oracle has been left in charge with the updates and Apple has taken on the liberty to protect its users by disabling Java the applet plug-in whenever it senses danger.
If, for some reason, you need Java 6 installed on your Mac, the 2014-001 release is precisely what you need. Download Java for OS X 2014-001 for your computer straight from Softpedia. Now for a few additional notes.
As some of you already know, Java 7 is actually the latest version available. According to a memo on java.com, “Oracle's Java version 7u25 and below have been disabled by Apple on OS X. Updating to the latest release will allow Java to be run on Mac OS X.”
If you’ve uninstalled Java 7 and want to restore to Java 6, Oracle directs customers to Apple’s KB article HT5559: “Java for OS X 2014-001: How to re-enable the Apple-provided Java SE 6 web plug-in and Web Start features.”
Oracle says Java 7 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X version 10.7.3 (Lion) and above, while the browser requirements are 64-bit Safari or Firefox. According to the specs list, “32-bit browsers such as Chrome do not support Java 7 on the Mac platform.”
For those of you looking for Java 6 on java.com, don’t bother. It’s not there. “For Java versions 6 and below, Apple supplies their own version of Java,” according to Oracle.
Finally, while Java does come pre-installed with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, starting with OS X 10.7 it is disabled by Apple. Also, to get Java 7 from Oracle, you will need to be running OS X 10.7.3 and above. Here are the Mac Java 7 installation instructions, straight from the mother-ship.