14 January 2010, 14:33

Java 6 update supports Windows 7

Sun Microsystems has released Java 6 Update 18. The latest update contains more than 350 bug fixes but, unlike the previous Java SE 6 Update 17 which closed several security holes, doesn't address any security issues. While users who upgraded to the previous version have no security reason to install the update, several functional and performance-related changes could, nevertheless, make the update worthwhile.

According to the release notes, Java 6 now supports Windows 7, as well as the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3. The new Java release includes version 1.2.1 of VisualVM and Java DB 10.5.3.0. In terms of performance, the update contains the Java Hotspot VM (version 16.0), which is said to be faster and offers heap configuration and code generation improvements, as well as class loading optimisations for faster start-up.

Additional changes include a new Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) API and an upgraded JSR-173 implementation of the Streaming API for XML (StAX). The current Software Development Kit (SDK) and associated Java Runtime Environment (JRE) can be found on the "Java SE Downloads" page.

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