Install the latest Java update and you're done. These systems shipped without Java and users could have either installed Java 6 from Apple or Java 7 from Oracle.Ī system that started out with Java 7 from Oracle should be fine. Macs running Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) are in a more complicated situation. They simply get Java 6 Update 37 from Apple using the standard software update mechanism and get on with their lives. People using Snow Leopard (10.6) are probably the best off in the Mac community. Apple is not providing Java updates for Leopard.
If anyone knows how to make Java 7 check for updates daily on Windows XP, please leave a comment below or email me at my full name at Gmail.Īnyone running Java on Leopard (10.5) should stop doing so. Nothing is logged in any of the event logs either. As with Windows 7, there are no visible errors. Unfortunately, Windows XP has the same problem with updating the schedule: it seems to work, but doesn't actually take hold. It's a simple matter, at this point, to make a shortcut to javacpl.exe so that it can be run again without having to search for it. Sure enough, running it produced the Java Control Panel and the Update tab. Then, on Windows XP, I found this program in C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin On Windows 7, I used Process Explorer to determine that the Java Control Panel is javacpl.exe. Even though I was logged on as an administrator, it was gone. There was no Java Control Panel in the Windows Control Panel. On the Windows XP system with Java 7, things were even worse.
Speaking of my first guess, the Update tab is not included in the 64 bit versions of Java, another reason to stick with the 32 bit version. The only good news, is that this works even when logged on to Windows as a restricted user. The solution is ugly, you have to run a very long command from an elevated Command Prompt. According to Oracle, it is an issue on both Windows 7 and Vista. Some online searching revealed this to be a known problem. But no, Oracle themselves, suggest using the 32 bit edition of Java on a 64 bit version of Windows. My first guess was that it had something to do with running a 32 bit version of Java on a 64 bit system. Lo and behold, the schedule was still monthly I just happened to open up the Java Control Panel a second time, after telling it to check for updates daily. Modifying the update checking schedule seems to work. This brought up the worst kind of bug: silent.
I had to logon as an administrator to tell Java to check for updates daily rather than monthly. In almost every case where administrative privileges are needed, Windows prompts for an admin password. On the Windows 7 system, because I was logged on as a restricted/standard user, the options to change the schedule were disabled. In each case, modifying the Java update schedule was problematical. I installed Java 6 on Windows 7 and Java 7 on Windows XP. The user interface is simple and clear.īut then I tried it on two PCs. The schedule is available in the Java Control Panel in the Windows Control Panel. When I started writing this, the update schedule was an afterthought. * On Windows, Java defaults to checking for updates only once a month. On a Mac with Java 6, just configure Software Update for daily checking. Whenever the next batch of fixes is released, Java users need to be notified about them as soon as possible. Just recognize that they make you safer (30 bugs were fixed) rather than safe. This is not to suggest, in any way, ignoring the latest updates to Java. As a result, even these latest and greatest editions of Java remain vulnerable to a known critical flaw.
The biggest issue is that Oracle didn't patch all the known problems with Java.
For all other websites, use a browser that has Java disabled. If you need Java for a website, enable Java in a browser used only on the site that needs it.
Windows users in this situation may want to consider the portable version of Java available at. OS X users on Lion and Mountain Lion had Apple do this for them (more below). If you only need Java for an application, disable it in all your browsers. Java is used by both installed applications and websites. It is not associated with Oracle in any way). (Note: is a site that I created and maintain. The home page of my site has more on this. Updates are available for Windows, Linux and the last three editions of OS X.