[Quagmire]

In software update,

Now in Software Update: Java 1.3.1 and 1.4.2 Release 2 delivers improved reliability and compatibility for Java on Mac OS X v10.4. This release includes Java 2 Platform Standard Edition versions 1.3.1_16 and 1.4.2_09. The update, which is over 40MB, is also available for direct download.

[onlyafterdark]

Good to go.

[Brad]

*sigh*

Here I was hoping Java 1.5 would finally be offered in Software Update. Stupid Apple.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Brad *sigh* Here I was hoping Java 1.5 would finally be offered in Software Update. Stupid Apple.

Great minds think alike...

[Luca]

Jeez man, do you have some kind of Software Update hack that checks every five minutes or something? I'm impressed!

[chucker]

What a post count whore.

[Luca]

Me or him?

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by Luca Jeez man, do you have some kind of Software Update hack that checks every five minutes or something? I'm impressed!

As in the last thread I made about a software update. I have my sources which I and they are under NDA's! I predict Tiger.3 later this week or next week!

[MCQ]

Originally Posted by Luca Me or him?

You.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by chucker What a post count whore.

?

Anyway, I guess I should qualify my above rant for people not in the know.

The Java 1.5.0 VM is the Next Big Thing™ for Java. It's also called "Java 5.0" which better indicates that it's much more than a simple bugfix release. Sadly, Java 5.0 will have been available to Windows users for a whole year as of the 30th of this month.

What about us Mac users? Well, firstly Apple didn't have its version of Java 5.0 ready until 29 April 2005. Okay, great! It's done! Why don't we have it in our hot little hands? Well, secondly Apple has released it only for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Fine; so, why isn't it available in Software Update for just 10.4 users? No clue. As it stands now, you have to dig around through Apple's website just to find it.

I should also note that anything compiled with Java 5.0, even if it doesn't use any of the new methods, is wholly incompatible with and will refuse to run on older Java VMs, such as the Java 1.4.x that is bundled with Mac OS X. If you try to run a new Java app on Mac OS X without Java 5.0, it'll either die quietly or report a cryptic and mostly useless error message. This caused me many headaches when I was working on a Java project recently at university.

-10 points for Apple. Bad show.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Luca Me or him?

Far from it for me to offend a moderator, I was referring to Undertaker, of course.

Originally Posted by Brad -10 points for Apple. Bad show.

Agreed -- the irony of all this: Java 5's codename was Tiger, and the two were even first demo'd around the same time (June 2004).

[Luca]

LOL, okay. I might be post-whoring in this thread.

[Luca]

But I haven't been posting as much recently! I have to make up for lost time!

[SledgeHammer]

No you don't. You have nearly 4,000 posts. I sit, bide my time with my 400 or so posts. Thinking fondly of the day when I will top 1,000 and the dreamed-of-place where I can edit my member title whenever I feel the urge.

Anyway, Brad, so Apple's implementation of Java 1.5 is ready to go? Might you point us lesser folk to the place where we may acquire it? Also why 1.5 & 5.0?

[Brad]

The nomenclature is ridiculous. I have no idea why Sun chose to name the Java version twice. Honestly, after several years of Java programming, I still don't know how/why the naming convention is the way it is. I know "Java 2" includes at least 1.3.x and 1.4.x. Beyond that, I'm lost.

As far as I can tell from my own limited testing, Apple's implementation of Java 1.5.0 works just fine. You can download and install it from this support page, but that's still not going to make it the default JRE. After installing, you then have to drill down to:

/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions

...and change the "CurrentJDK" symlink to point to the "1.5" directory. Pain in the butt, huh?

[DMBand0026]

Originally Posted by Luca But I haven't been posting as much recently! I have to make up for lost time!

Post whore.

[Luca]

Originally Posted by DMBand0026 Post whore.

Me?

[JLL]

Originally Posted by Brad *sigh* The Java 1.5.0 VM is the Next Big Thing™ for Java. It's also called "Java 5.0" which better indicates that it's much more than a simple bugfix release. Sadly, Java 5.0 will have been available to Windows users for a whole year as of the 30th of this month.

Oooh, 7 more months - horror. Perhaps Apple should mess up Java so much that Suns will make the Mac version, just as MS did with the Windows version.

You have to realize that Apple has to make the port themselves, and I can't find any other non-Sun-supported platform where Java is up to date as fast as on Mac OS X.

Originally Posted by Brad Fine; so, why isn't it available in Software Update for just 10.4 users? No clue.

Why is that so important to you? If you distribute software that requires Java 5, you can link to the download on Apple Downloads just as you would link to Sun if you released the software to Windows users - they don't get it automatically either.

Java 5 can break Java apps written for Java 1.4.x so not having it installed by default is a smart thing right now since not many apps require Java 5.

Originally Posted by Brad but that's still not going to make it the default JRE. After installing, you then have to drill down to: /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions ...and change the "CurrentJDK" symlink to point to the "1.5" directory. Pain in the butt, huh?

If you're running double clickable apps or Webstart apps, you can just set the default in /Applications/Utilities/Java/J2SE 5.0/.

Well, on to bitch about the missing Java 6 beta releases

[curiousuburb]

Well I have been reading some reports that iTunes 5 is hella buggy (grain of salt due to source)...

maybe the tech support folk are billing mucho overtime and the beancounters are pushing back release

[JLL]

And that has to do with Java in what way?

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by JLL And that has to do with Java in what way?

Just positing the theory that delayed release might have something to do with a desire to minimize support calls as much as a desire to ship more bulletproof product in the first place.

Clearly we're not talking about MS here, who seem to have a ship-first fix-later policy. Or a ship-first, expect you to patch once we get around to fixing, or perhaps never really fix, policy.

[Chinney]

What new functionality makes Java 1.5.0 VM is the Next Big Thing™ for Java? Just curious.

[Brad]

J2SE 5.0 in a Nutshell

New Features and Enhancements: J2SE 5.0

[oldmacfan]

Well, I did download the Java update and it has messed up Safari, Office, and FireFox will no longer start on my machine at work. Yes, I am the test bed for all updates and this one is hitting me hard. The issue is affecting fonts mostly that I can tell. Time to reimage my machine.

[JLL]

The Java update should not affect any of those apps.

[oldmacfan]

Originally Posted by JLL The Java update should not affect any of those apps.

Well, shouldn't in computers is a dirty word.

The only thing that changed on my system was this update. Yes, it was working perfectly fine this morning, I ran this update and wham my fonts are f'ed.

This was the only web site I frequent that was not affected by the font issue before I reimaged the machine. I have a screen shot I will post later to show you how messed up it was.

This is a simple case of cause and affect.

[BarracksSi]

The update (the one via Software Update, anyway) hasn't caused any problems for met yet.

Plus, whether it's the Java update or Mapquest un-f*cked their site, I'm not having interminable stalling problems at Mapquest anymore.

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by BarracksSi The update (the one via Software Update, anyway) hasn't caused any problems for met yet. Plus, whether it's the Java update or Mapquest un-f*cked their site, I'm not having interminable stalling problems at Mapquest anymore.

Mapquest? Oh yeah... that ugly, ad-spamming early version of Google Maps.

[DMBand0026]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb Mapquest? Oh yeah... that ugly, ad-spamming early version of Google Maps.

I can't decide which one I like least to be honest. Google Maps initially appears to be much better but than craps on itself when it provides strange and in some cases even incorrect routes to places that MapQuest does just fine on. Not to mention that for some reason I've never been able to type in an intersection on Google Maps like I have been on MapQuest.

Say I want to go from my place to Clark & Addison Chicago, IL (the location of Wrigley Field). For some reason it won't recognize the intersection thing...at least it never has for me which is quite irritating.

Than there's MapQuest. Ugh, I don't know if this even requires any explanation. The stupid site is so bloated it's approaching (if not already surpassed) bloated. I can hear my poor PowerBook whimper every time I even get near my MapQuest bookmark. Google Maps has been guilty of similar resource hogging, but not nearly as often.

I guess the only thing left to do is use Microsoft's maps.

[atomicbartbeans]

Originally Posted by Undertaker As in the last thread I made about a software update. I have my sources which I and they are under NDA's! I predict Tiger.3 later this week or next week!

As much as they'd like it to be so, I don't think Apple would ever get Slashdot to sign an NDA.