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Java 6 Developer preview now available for Leopard

by Christina Warren Dec 19th 2007 at 8:00AM

Merry Christmas Java developers - from Santa Steve! Java SE 6 Developer Preview 8 is now available for Leopard via the Apple Developer Connection. You need to be an ADC member to access this download, but registration for the basic online membership is free and provides access for the Java SE 6 preview.

As some of you may recall, in the immediate aftermath of Leopard's release, Java developers were a little upset about the exclusion of Java 6 from the shipping release of Apple's latest operating system. Until now, there has been little to no information about the Java 6 time line for Leopard, aside from some independent community-driven open-source projects.

This version Java SE 6 Developer Preview requires a 64-bit capable Intel-based Mac (a Core 2 Duo or Xeon) and Mac OS X v 10.5.1 or later. See the release notes (linked from the ADC download page - it requires a login so I'm not hotlinking from here) for more details.

Thanks Will!


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Merry Christmas Java developers - from Santa Steve! Java SE 6 Developer Preview 8 is now available for Leopard via the Apple Developer...
 

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Fritz Laurel

Seems to me that Java support has been a sticking point with OS X from day 1. I remember a Media Asset Management project we had when I worked at Disney back in 2000. It was written in Java so that it would be "cross platform" after Apple sold Disney on the idea that the then-upcoming OS X would have greater Java support. Yeah, right.

Three cheers to the community and what they've been able to accomplish!

FL

December 19 2007 at 4:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kyle Nilson

As long as no one at my university goes to Java 6, we're good since it doesn't work at all with our systems here. :P

For once, I'm sorta glad that Java 5 remains the only Mac option since we routinely have to downgrade Windows lappies.

December 19 2007 at 11:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
r.sesser

Hey! That's cool. My Core Duo Macbook Pro "doesn't need this update." :

December 19 2007 at 9:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to r.sesser's comment
Nick

God, comments like this are annoying. It's a freakin preview, not an end user release. What do you need Java 6 for? Are you a developer? Are you looking to use some Java 6 only software? Grab a free alternative, then, it'll be just as supported as this. Otherwise, wait 30 days, and you'll have it.

December 19 2007 at 11:19 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John Doe

oZ- the last "developer preview" came out a year ago. It's been a little more than 30 days, eh?

December 19 2007 at 6:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Christina Warren

I tend to agree - a Java 5 (release 6) update was released for Tiger a few days ago (http://developer.apple.com/releasenotes/Java/Java104R6RN/Introduction/chapter_1_section_1.html) - but I agree with your other points completely.

December 19 2007 at 9:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John Doe

I was about to say this is great, but it actually STILL sucks.

1) Not a final release - inexcusable, considering java 6 has been out for over a year for all the other platforms. A big problem because most people don't get dev previews, so you can't deploy java 6 apps to mac people
2) No PPC support - lots of people still use PPC's, including me
3) No Core Duo support - WTF apple? Why not?
4) No 10.4 support - not such a big deal, but still annoying (see 1)

December 19 2007 at 9:37 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to John Doe's comment
jgjay

Well we can AT LEAST continue with OS X as a Java 6 development platform post-Leopard. That's a good enough start for me.

That said, I do hope that the community efforts continue. Apple's attitude towards Java sucks, and it CLEARLY isn't a priority to them. What I, and I'm sure Apple and Sun would like to see is the open source community take over development of Java for OS X. I wouldn't be surprised if they come out with a better product all round... better performance, better integration with the OS. Perhaps even a better looking native Look and Feel - that would certainly get the users on side.

December 19 2007 at 10:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
codeman38

Even the SoyLatte project is Intel-only. Are there *any* community efforts for a PPC version of Java 6?

December 19 2007 at 9:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mungler

I take it the final release will work on lowly 32-bit macs like my Core Duo MacBook Pro?

December 19 2007 at 8:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to mungler's comment
Christina Warren

I can only assume that would be the case -- nothing else would make sense. If you need something with Java 6 now - or you wan to try playing around with it, click on the community driven efforts link in the post -- they've done some amazing advancements in the last three weeks in porting the freeBSD version of Java 6 over to OS X 10.4 and 10.5

December 19 2007 at 9:43 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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