6 ms·

Apple says no Java for you, removes plugin from browsers on OS X 10.7 and up

116 points by somethingnew 14y ago

timothya 14y ago
I don't expect to see much difference in my day-to-day browsing, I can barely remember the last time I encountered a Java applet - most of the time I see them they are some sort of unimportant and old technology demo. However, I'm of the understanding that in Europe, a lot of bank websites use Java applets as their primary way to do online banking, in which case I can see this decision affecting a lot of people.
- JulianWasTaken 14y ago
  There just is an infinite list of things wrong with bank websites aren't there.
- cfinke 14y ago
  I can barely remember the last time I encountered a Java applet The very-popular SmartSource coupon website uses Java to enable users to print coupons. That's the only thing my household has needed Java for in the last year, but it's high priority for my wife.
  - chris_wot 14y ago
    I recommend downloading and installing the Java plugin yourself then :-)
- mortenjorck 14y ago
  Maybe after enough thousands of WebExes get delayed another 15 minutes each, Cisco will take this as a sign. (WebEx has a totally pointless Java applet that only serves to launch the native client app.)
  - lloeki 14y ago
    On the IE side they do this with ActiveX. I always wondered why they did not come up with a simple webex:// uri.
- nivla 14y ago
  Interestingly time.gov/ still requires an applet to run. I often find schools and test centers using them because of its accuracy. Wonder why they still haven't switched to javascript yet, maybe "if it ain't broke, don't fix" mindset.
  - disgruntledphd2 14y ago
    Timing in javascript is pretty poor. The best accuracy you can get is around 0.5 seconds. Given that many tests and testing sites (and psychological instruments, which is why I know) require millisecond (+-10) accuracy, Java is the best tool for this job. Its a sad day for me, this change, even though we fall back to JS the timing simply is not as accurate. This may change with localstorage and access to system API's, but its not there yet.
    - Zr40 14y ago
      http://time.is/ http://time.is/ claims to get ±0.011 second accuracy for me, and it appears to use JavaScript.
      - disgruntledphd2 14y ago
        Yes, but it does this by synchronising with an atomic clock from a server. I would want (do want, actually) to be able to run a js file on the browser of a participant and get accurate timing down to perhaps 50 milliseconds. The joy of java is the applet downloads, makes the timings on the local computer and then sends the results back over the server. Involving the network during the process makes it somewhat unreliable.
- myspy 14y ago
  I haven't seen any Java applets among Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse, Raiffeisenbank. And I haven't seen a Java applet for months. A concert ticket seller had one for seat placement. I also did not install Flash for Safari, it's a little annoying when you encounter videos, but for that I change into Chrome. A little Safari extention helps to activate html5 videos from youtube and they run smoother than the Flash versions.
praveenyadav 14y ago
Why apple wana do with Oracle/Java ?
whichdan 14y ago
I keep Java disabled in Chrome anyway, so no complaints here.
jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
Some online photo printing service sites use funky Java Applets to let you upload image files by picking from thumbnails generated on the client side. Other than that I can only see this move as a plus for internet security.
james4k 14y ago
At the risk of sounding a bit ridiculous, good for them. The less Java, the better.
- thebluesky 14y ago
  > The less Java, the better. That's a pretty broad generalization. As Java+Scala programmer I personally seldom use, see or write Java applets. Advocating against the use of Java in general is just silly however. Java (+other JVM languages) is very well suited to backend systems, and with the addition of modern web frameworks like Play it's pretty good choice for frontend work too. Java (+other JVM languages) is used heavily by companies like Google, Amazon, Twitter etc. > At the risk of sounding a bit ridiculous You do indeed sound ridiculous, especially since it's just Apple no longer maintaining their own Java plugin, but letting customers install the official plugin from Oracle, just like customers do for every other major operating system.
  - notatoad 14y ago
    Java is a perfectly accpetable language, as long as i can't tell when an app is using it. Server-side java is great, android is great, but as long as shitty programmers keep writing java apps that make use of some awful GUI toolkit and require the user to install a JRE, people are going to keep hating java. In many cases, the fact that an app is java based can be directly blamed for a poor user experience. sure, it's not the language's fault, but it is what it is.
CodeCube 14y ago
Pretty soon, this URL won't be a 404 - http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-java/ http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-java/
- astrange 14y ago
  I believe you're looking for http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/11/12Oracle-and-Apple-Announce-OpenJDK-Project-for-Mac-OS-X.html http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/11/12Oracle-and-Apple-A....
Groxx 14y ago
Doesn't change much, since the earlier change to the OS meant you don't even have Java by default.
kev009 14y ago
Sensational; Apple planned on passing off Java to Oracle for a while. Oracle now distributes a Java 7 JRE for OS X directly.
cjensen 14y ago
They are uninstalling the Apple-provided Java browsing plugin and letting Oracle handle the browser plugin from now on. Sounds good: why keep Java around by default as a potential security hole now that very few sites use it? They still provide Java for applications like CrashPlan, Minecraft, or JungleDisk which need it.
- shanelja 14y ago
  Don't forget Runescape, one of the biggest MMORPG's in the world, which uses Java for it's 3D front end client, but even they will be gone soon; they're moving to HTML5.
  - ChrisBaldwin 14y ago
    Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Runescape wasn't Java.
    - shanelja 14y ago
      I was surprised too when they decided to switch, I'm a ten year veteran since RSC, so Java has always been the way I have thought of that game. Even the company name, JaGex, is an abbreviation of 'Java Game Experts.' They have released some detailed graphics of the new rendering engine in HTML5 and what I assume is Javascript and the results are fairly spectacular, much more clarity and the improvement is at least partially visible, it just remains to see if it will run as fast as RS2. I should however clarify, the back end will still be a mixture of Java, with C++ strapped on top where needed.
    - seltzered_ 14y ago
      I didn't know runescape still existed, I played that game 11 years ago.
      - shanelja 14y ago
        It was really big for a while, had in excess of 200,000 players on at a time, then poor decisions on part of the company who runs them and being bought out by another company caused the game to be less popular than it was. Currently it stands at about 110,000-140,000 people on at once per night, which while being no mean number itself, consists of a large number of bots, or computerized players, programmed to perform tasks which generate in game money to be sold to legitimate players on external websites. The % of bots was said at the last RuneFest to be around the 30% mark, but since most players have used some form of botting program in the past, it is more likely to be around 50%. Over the years, there has been a lot of turmoil in game, from free trade and the wilderness being removed, to it being reinstated, to the release of pay-for-perks via the squeal of fortune, a relatively new money making venture by JaGex, instigated by the new owners (Possibly named MMG, I can't remember off the top of my head) whereby players can buy spins on a virtual wheel of fortune, with prizes ranging from experience lamps, to 50 coins, to rare items and weapons (in a form which may not be sold) all the way up to 200,000,000 coins (which admittedly is extremely rare.) The culmination of these changes has resulted in a player backlash, whereby the forums (and not just the 'rant' forum) are constantly filled with topics and players complaining, wishing the game was how it used to be. Adding to this, several staff who felt strongly about the future of the game, also being players themselves, quit their positions at the company, including the CEO. (There is a much longer story and this is very watered down.) But to give a proper response: The game is still very much existential, though internally, it is filled with anger and cheating. ~ I am in no way affiliated with JaGex, I know some of the staff use HN and I don't want to get any of them in trouble, the new owners tend to act first and think later.
rsingel 14y ago
If you care about good journalism, follow the source. This is Engadget aggregating an Ars Technica story. That's fine -- there are good reasons for aggregation -- but if you are going to share on social networks, take the time to click to the original and reward the real reporting -- in this case from Dan Goodin. http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/apple-removes-java-from-all-os-x-web-browsers/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/apple-removes-java-from...
- somethingnew 14y ago
  Sorry bout that :)
andrewpi 14y ago
Unlike the previously built-in Java, Oracle's Java plugin doesn't seem to work with Chrome on the Mac due to Chrome being 32 bit. Anyone know a workaround?
- smithian 14y ago
  There doesn't appear to be one other than "Use Safari"
rsync 14y ago
I switched from FreeBSD as my desktop to OSX about four years ago because: a) I needed a unix based desktop b) I needed end user components (browser, printing, etc.) that just worked Circa 2008, everything in Safari "just worked" - every site, every player, every piece of embedded bullshit on every little web 2.0 site blah blah blah. But now I need to manually futz around with flash every two weeks to keep it working ... and now java as well ? I think OSX still has an edge for me, in terms of getting things done, due to printing and ... ? It's getting awfully close to even, though.
- fusiongyro 14y ago
  I'm with you. Switched from Linux in about 2003, but lately I've been trying to get back into Linux (Ubuntu, as if that matters). I feel like the walls are closing in and I don't like it.
  - astrodust 14y ago
    You're not obligated to use Safari, you know.
    - fusiongyro 14y ago
      And I don't. But that isn't the main thing.
  - ImprovedSilence 14y ago
    I've been using Linux Mint, and can highly recommend it.
- PCheese 14y ago
  Really? If you want these plugins, just do the one-time install when you first encounter the Missing Plug-In message, and then everything will "just work" again. (Well, perhaps you'll have worse battery life and maybe a less secure system.) There's a reason why that error message has a button next to it that makes it really easy to install the missing piece, as opposed to hunting for the right software on the Internet. Can you be more specific about needing to "manually futz around with flash every two weeks"? I'm guessing you mean software updates, but I have a hard time believing that Flash stops working unless you update it. If you don't value the added security of having Flash updates decoupled from OS X releases, then you can just tell Flash to stop prompting you to update (or better, just tell it to do so automatically).
veidr 14y ago
Completely stupid headline; removing words 2 through 6 (and the comma) would fix it.
- woah 14y ago
  I rather appreciated its snarky nature.
freeslave 14y ago
I wasn't too worried about this when i read it, but it appears the latest oracle java plugin is not supported on chrome. I get this message from the download page: "Chrome does not support Java 7. Java 7 runs only on 64-bit browsers and Chrome is a 32-bit browser. If you download Java 7, you will not be able to run Java content in Chrome and will need to use a 64-bit browser (such as Safari or Firefox) to run Java content within a browser. Additionally, installing Java 7 will disable the ability to use Apple Java 6 on your system." So now it looks like I'll have to flip over to firefox if I want to use a site that requires the java plugin - kind of a nuisance.
- spullara 14y ago
  Chrome is only 32-bit? Apparently, yes, at least on the Mac. The issue has been open for 3 years: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=18323 http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=18323 "Snow Leopard will be released in less than 2 months. I believe we should start testing a 64bit version of Chrome so it can be ready when SL ships."
  - lloeki 14y ago
    Chrome and Dropbox are the last non-64bit process on my machine. Their argument is YAGNI.
    - raverbashing 14y ago
      On that issue, don't even get me started with Firefox not having a 64bit version in Linux (not built by the distros) YAGNI is that kind of dismissive argument that it's not even funny So then if Apple/MS/a linux distro or somebody else shuts down 32-bit binaries they'll be coming with millions of excuses for their incompetence
      - darkstalker 14y ago
        Firefox does have an official 64 bit release for Linux since a while: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/16.0.1/linux-x86_64/
pbreit 14y ago
I can't remember the last time I used Java on the client side but I'm sure it was hellish.
zhoutong 14y ago
The built-in Java was optimized for Retina display and all texts were crisp and sharp. After the update and a manual installation of Oracle's Java Runtime, everything is blurry again.
svendahlstrand 14y ago
How to enable Java browser plugin again: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4672511 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4672511.
nnq 14y ago
...if only Java in the browser wouldn't have failed so bad (and it did long time ago, Apple's decision is just a sad reminder of this), we would actually have the "nirvana" of using Python (Jython), Ruby (JRuby), Clojure and more IN THE BROWSER! Same language on the server and in the browser, even on mobile, and the ability for every developer/team to CHOOSE that language from a few option that run on the JVM... (I know we'll have this one day, with languages that compile to Javascript, but... it could have so much more beautiful, another lost "alternate reality", like the ones in which Lisp went mainstream and even OSs were build in it... sigh...) How dump could Sun and Oracle (I know, the browser Java fight was maybe already lost when Oracle came in...) be not to realize the potential ecosystem that could grow around this? Sigh...
- tonyedgecombe 14y ago
  Microsoft and Apple have to bear some of the responsibility for this as well.
  - nnq 14y ago
    Microsoft, yes, it really made sense for them to be as hostile as possible to Java on all fronts. But Apple? Weren't their Java related decisions too late in the Game to change anyth?...
- Kerrick 14y ago
  Native Client is the next hope for Python, Ruby, etc. in the browser. Much better than trying to compile an existing language to JavaScript. https://developers.google.com/native-client/ https://developers.google.com/native-client/
  - nnq 14y ago
    Hmm... I just can't imagine either Ms or Apple being friendly towards NaCl as it would basically be a way of drilling more wholes into their boats (like competing with Silverlght or the broader "issue" that webifying desktop and mobile apps would risk making iOS or Windows irrelevant and welcome in even more low-cost Android and Linux solutions... every Desktop/iOS app to browser app transition basically makes these guys loose money one way or another...)
greatabel 14y ago
Consider the sun sanked in the west, they should remove java long time ago.
mariuz 14y ago
Java is dead in the browser dear Google/Mozilla please remove it from chrome and firefox also forbid it
smackfu 14y ago
I love Apple and their little "surprise, all your users will have to do something to get your app to work today, hope you help desk is staffed!" And Oracle is no better, making changes as "security updates" that have no pre-release, which is fine in theory but in practice has tended to break our app.

116 points by somethingnew 14y ago

I don't expect to see much difference in my day-to-day browsing, I can barely remember the last time I encountered a Java applet - most of the time I see them they are some sort of unimportant and old technology demo. However, I'm of the understanding that in Europe, a lot of bank websites use Java applets as their primary way to do online banking, in which case I can see this decision affecting a lot of people.

JulianWasTaken 14y ago
There just is an infinite list of things wrong with bank websites aren't there.
cfinke 14y ago
I can barely remember the last time I encountered a Java applet The very-popular SmartSource coupon website uses Java to enable users to print coupons. That's the only thing my household has needed Java for in the last year, but it's high priority for my wife.
- chris_wot 14y ago
  I recommend downloading and installing the Java plugin yourself then :-)
mortenjorck 14y ago
Maybe after enough thousands of WebExes get delayed another 15 minutes each, Cisco will take this as a sign. (WebEx has a totally pointless Java applet that only serves to launch the native client app.)
- lloeki 14y ago
  On the IE side they do this with ActiveX. I always wondered why they did not come up with a simple webex:// uri.
nivla 14y ago
Interestingly time.gov/ still requires an applet to run. I often find schools and test centers using them because of its accuracy. Wonder why they still haven't switched to javascript yet, maybe "if it ain't broke, don't fix" mindset.
- disgruntledphd2 14y ago
  Timing in javascript is pretty poor. The best accuracy you can get is around 0.5 seconds. Given that many tests and testing sites (and psychological instruments, which is why I know) require millisecond (+-10) accuracy, Java is the best tool for this job. Its a sad day for me, this change, even though we fall back to JS the timing simply is not as accurate. This may change with localstorage and access to system API's, but its not there yet.
  - Zr40 14y ago
    http://time.is/ http://time.is/ claims to get ±0.011 second accuracy for me, and it appears to use JavaScript.
    - disgruntledphd2 14y ago
      Yes, but it does this by synchronising with an atomic clock from a server. I would want (do want, actually) to be able to run a js file on the browser of a participant and get accurate timing down to perhaps 50 milliseconds. The joy of java is the applet downloads, makes the timings on the local computer and then sends the results back over the server. Involving the network during the process makes it somewhat unreliable.
myspy 14y ago
I haven't seen any Java applets among Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse, Raiffeisenbank. And I haven't seen a Java applet for months. A concert ticket seller had one for seat placement. I also did not install Flash for Safari, it's a little annoying when you encounter videos, but for that I change into Chrome. A little Safari extention helps to activate html5 videos from youtube and they run smoother than the Flash versions.

praveenyadav 14y ago

Why apple wana do with Oracle/Java ?

whichdan 14y ago

I keep Java disabled in Chrome anyway, so no complaints here.

jayfuerstenberg 14y ago

Some online photo printing service sites use funky Java Applets to let you upload image files by picking from thumbnails generated on the client side. Other than that I can only see this move as a plus for internet security.

james4k 14y ago

At the risk of sounding a bit ridiculous, good for them. The less Java, the better.

thebluesky 14y ago
> The less Java, the better. That's a pretty broad generalization. As Java+Scala programmer I personally seldom use, see or write Java applets. Advocating against the use of Java in general is just silly however. Java (+other JVM languages) is very well suited to backend systems, and with the addition of modern web frameworks like Play it's pretty good choice for frontend work too. Java (+other JVM languages) is used heavily by companies like Google, Amazon, Twitter etc. > At the risk of sounding a bit ridiculous You do indeed sound ridiculous, especially since it's just Apple no longer maintaining their own Java plugin, but letting customers install the official plugin from Oracle, just like customers do for every other major operating system.
- notatoad 14y ago
  Java is a perfectly accpetable language, as long as i can't tell when an app is using it. Server-side java is great, android is great, but as long as shitty programmers keep writing java apps that make use of some awful GUI toolkit and require the user to install a JRE, people are going to keep hating java. In many cases, the fact that an app is java based can be directly blamed for a poor user experience. sure, it's not the language's fault, but it is what it is.

CodeCube 14y ago

Pretty soon, this URL won't be a 404 - http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-java/ http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-java/

astrange 14y ago
I believe you're looking for http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/11/12Oracle-and-Apple-Announce-OpenJDK-Project-for-Mac-OS-X.html http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/11/12Oracle-and-Apple-A....

Groxx 14y ago

Doesn't change much, since the earlier change to the OS meant you don't even have Java by default.

kev009 14y ago

Sensational; Apple planned on passing off Java to Oracle for a while. Oracle now distributes a Java 7 JRE for OS X directly.

cjensen 14y ago

They are uninstalling the Apple-provided Java browsing plugin and letting Oracle handle the browser plugin from now on. Sounds good: why keep Java around by default as a potential security hole now that very few sites use it? They still provide Java for applications like CrashPlan, Minecraft, or JungleDisk which need it.

shanelja 14y ago
Don't forget Runescape, one of the biggest MMORPG's in the world, which uses Java for it's 3D front end client, but even they will be gone soon; they're moving to HTML5.
- ChrisBaldwin 14y ago
  Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Runescape wasn't Java.
  - shanelja 14y ago
    I was surprised too when they decided to switch, I'm a ten year veteran since RSC, so Java has always been the way I have thought of that game. Even the company name, JaGex, is an abbreviation of 'Java Game Experts.' They have released some detailed graphics of the new rendering engine in HTML5 and what I assume is Javascript and the results are fairly spectacular, much more clarity and the improvement is at least partially visible, it just remains to see if it will run as fast as RS2. I should however clarify, the back end will still be a mixture of Java, with C++ strapped on top where needed.
  - seltzered_ 14y ago
    I didn't know runescape still existed, I played that game 11 years ago.
    - shanelja 14y ago
      It was really big for a while, had in excess of 200,000 players on at a time, then poor decisions on part of the company who runs them and being bought out by another company caused the game to be less popular than it was. Currently it stands at about 110,000-140,000 people on at once per night, which while being no mean number itself, consists of a large number of bots, or computerized players, programmed to perform tasks which generate in game money to be sold to legitimate players on external websites. The % of bots was said at the last RuneFest to be around the 30% mark, but since most players have used some form of botting program in the past, it is more likely to be around 50%. Over the years, there has been a lot of turmoil in game, from free trade and the wilderness being removed, to it being reinstated, to the release of pay-for-perks via the squeal of fortune, a relatively new money making venture by JaGex, instigated by the new owners (Possibly named MMG, I can't remember off the top of my head) whereby players can buy spins on a virtual wheel of fortune, with prizes ranging from experience lamps, to 50 coins, to rare items and weapons (in a form which may not be sold) all the way up to 200,000,000 coins (which admittedly is extremely rare.) The culmination of these changes has resulted in a player backlash, whereby the forums (and not just the 'rant' forum) are constantly filled with topics and players complaining, wishing the game was how it used to be. Adding to this, several staff who felt strongly about the future of the game, also being players themselves, quit their positions at the company, including the CEO. (There is a much longer story and this is very watered down.) But to give a proper response: The game is still very much existential, though internally, it is filled with anger and cheating. ~ I am in no way affiliated with JaGex, I know some of the staff use HN and I don't want to get any of them in trouble, the new owners tend to act first and think later.

rsingel 14y ago

If you care about good journalism, follow the source. This is Engadget aggregating an Ars Technica story. That's fine -- there are good reasons for aggregation -- but if you are going to share on social networks, take the time to click to the original and reward the real reporting -- in this case from Dan Goodin. http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/apple-removes-java-from-all-os-x-web-browsers/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10/apple-removes-java-from...

somethingnew 14y ago
Sorry bout that :)

andrewpi 14y ago

Unlike the previously built-in Java, Oracle's Java plugin doesn't seem to work with Chrome on the Mac due to Chrome being 32 bit. Anyone know a workaround?

smithian 14y ago
There doesn't appear to be one other than "Use Safari"

rsync 14y ago

I switched from FreeBSD as my desktop to OSX about four years ago because: a) I needed a unix based desktop b) I needed end user components (browser, printing, etc.) that just worked Circa 2008, everything in Safari "just worked" - every site, every player, every piece of embedded bullshit on every little web 2.0 site blah blah blah. But now I need to manually futz around with flash every two weeks to keep it working ... and now java as well ? I think OSX still has an edge for me, in terms of getting things done, due to printing and ... ? It's getting awfully close to even, though.

fusiongyro 14y ago
I'm with you. Switched from Linux in about 2003, but lately I've been trying to get back into Linux (Ubuntu, as if that matters). I feel like the walls are closing in and I don't like it.
- astrodust 14y ago
  You're not obligated to use Safari, you know.
  - fusiongyro 14y ago
    And I don't. But that isn't the main thing.
- ImprovedSilence 14y ago
  I've been using Linux Mint, and can highly recommend it.
PCheese 14y ago
Really? If you want these plugins, just do the one-time install when you first encounter the Missing Plug-In message, and then everything will "just work" again. (Well, perhaps you'll have worse battery life and maybe a less secure system.) There's a reason why that error message has a button next to it that makes it really easy to install the missing piece, as opposed to hunting for the right software on the Internet. Can you be more specific about needing to "manually futz around with flash every two weeks"? I'm guessing you mean software updates, but I have a hard time believing that Flash stops working unless you update it. If you don't value the added security of having Flash updates decoupled from OS X releases, then you can just tell Flash to stop prompting you to update (or better, just tell it to do so automatically).

veidr 14y ago

Completely stupid headline; removing words 2 through 6 (and the comma) would fix it.

woah 14y ago
I rather appreciated its snarky nature.

freeslave 14y ago

I wasn't too worried about this when i read it, but it appears the latest oracle java plugin is not supported on chrome. I get this message from the download page: "Chrome does not support Java 7. Java 7 runs only on 64-bit browsers and Chrome is a 32-bit browser. If you download Java 7, you will not be able to run Java content in Chrome and will need to use a 64-bit browser (such as Safari or Firefox) to run Java content within a browser. Additionally, installing Java 7 will disable the ability to use Apple Java 6 on your system." So now it looks like I'll have to flip over to firefox if I want to use a site that requires the java plugin - kind of a nuisance.

spullara 14y ago
Chrome is only 32-bit? Apparently, yes, at least on the Mac. The issue has been open for 3 years: http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=18323 http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=18323 "Snow Leopard will be released in less than 2 months. I believe we should start testing a 64bit version of Chrome so it can be ready when SL ships."
- lloeki 14y ago
  Chrome and Dropbox are the last non-64bit process on my machine. Their argument is YAGNI.
  - raverbashing 14y ago
    On that issue, don't even get me started with Firefox not having a 64bit version in Linux (not built by the distros) YAGNI is that kind of dismissive argument that it's not even funny So then if Apple/MS/a linux distro or somebody else shuts down 32-bit binaries they'll be coming with millions of excuses for their incompetence
    - darkstalker 14y ago
      Firefox does have an official 64 bit release for Linux since a while: ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/16.0.1/linux-x86_64/

pbreit 14y ago

I can't remember the last time I used Java on the client side but I'm sure it was hellish.

zhoutong 14y ago

The built-in Java was optimized for Retina display and all texts were crisp and sharp. After the update and a manual installation of Oracle's Java Runtime, everything is blurry again.

svendahlstrand 14y ago

How to enable Java browser plugin again: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4672511 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4672511.

nnq 14y ago

...if only Java in the browser wouldn't have failed so bad (and it did long time ago, Apple's decision is just a sad reminder of this), we would actually have the "nirvana" of using Python (Jython), Ruby (JRuby), Clojure and more IN THE BROWSER! Same language on the server and in the browser, even on mobile, and the ability for every developer/team to CHOOSE that language from a few option that run on the JVM... (I know we'll have this one day, with languages that compile to Javascript, but... it could have so much more beautiful, another lost "alternate reality", like the ones in which Lisp went mainstream and even OSs were build in it... sigh...) How dump could Sun and Oracle (I know, the browser Java fight was maybe already lost when Oracle came in...) be not to realize the potential ecosystem that could grow around this? Sigh...

tonyedgecombe 14y ago
Microsoft and Apple have to bear some of the responsibility for this as well.
- nnq 14y ago
  Microsoft, yes, it really made sense for them to be as hostile as possible to Java on all fronts. But Apple? Weren't their Java related decisions too late in the Game to change anyth?...
Kerrick 14y ago
Native Client is the next hope for Python, Ruby, etc. in the browser. Much better than trying to compile an existing language to JavaScript. https://developers.google.com/native-client/ https://developers.google.com/native-client/
- nnq 14y ago
  Hmm... I just can't imagine either Ms or Apple being friendly towards NaCl as it would basically be a way of drilling more wholes into their boats (like competing with Silverlght or the broader "issue" that webifying desktop and mobile apps would risk making iOS or Windows irrelevant and welcome in even more low-cost Android and Linux solutions... every Desktop/iOS app to browser app transition basically makes these guys loose money one way or another...)

greatabel 14y ago

Consider the sun sanked in the west, they should remove java long time ago.

mariuz 14y ago

Java is dead in the browser dear Google/Mozilla please remove it from chrome and firefox also forbid it

smackfu 14y ago

I love Apple and their little "surprise, all your users will have to do something to get your app to work today, hope you help desk is staffed!" And Oracle is no better, making changes as "security updates" that have no pre-release, which is fine in theory but in practice has tended to break our app.