Finally, Java 6 for Mac !

General Discussions
#1

http://developer.apple.com/releasenotes/Java/JavaLeopardUpdate1RN/Introduction/chapter_1_section_1.html

Even though it’s 17 (!!) months late, there still seem to be some restrictions with it:

  1. It only runs on OS X Leopard, and not Tiger.
  2. It only runs on 64-bit Intel processors (Core 2 Duo).
  3. Doesn’t work with 32-bit browsers, such as Safari.

So basically everyone with a Mac older than a year is excluded from Java 6 forever. Even though Apple’s Java releases are pretty good, and well integrated with the rest of the operating system, this pretty much makes it impossible to use Java 6 if you want to target Mac users. Also, perhaps the weirdest thing is that it only contains the server VM and not the client VM, anyone have any ideas why this may be?

#2

I know, I’m very excited. I’m seriously considering getting a high-end Mac in the near future (the only real downside being the expense), so I’m glad there’s a glimmer of hope again for Java support.

I hadn’t heard they were only supporting the server VM though, that’s interesting. I thought I had read somewhere that Sun’s long-term goals were to merge the two anyway, but a quick Google didn’t find this information anywhere. The article basically said that merging the two would increase developer productivity, as they’d no longer have to main “2 jvm implementations”, and that as Java matures, the server VM’s startup time was getting smaller and smaller, and so there was less of a need for the client implementation.

One interesting thing is that, according to this http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/vm/server-class.html, Java 5+ will automatically detect whether a machine is beefy enough for the server VM, and if it is, use it instead of client (unless the user explicitly says “-server” or “-client”). Perhaps Apple thinks all the 64-bit machines they’re shipping are good enough for the server VM?

#3

I think it’s more likely that they only ported the server VM to do the absolute minimum effort to release Java 6.

Still, what differences are there exactly between the server and client VMs, apart from startup time and the server VM taking up a bit more memory?

#4

Performance. Sometimes the server VM is up to 10 times faster, sometimes they are just as fast - it depends on the bytecode.

#5

Well this is very good. I’ll just wait for Software Update to install it for me.

#6

The server VM has really awful startup characteristics for games :frowning:

Oh and apparently none of my games run on this new JDK6 either. Bah.

Cas :slight_smile:

#7

Why not?

btw you should already have it through Software Update by now.

#8

Ah, apparently because I need to use LWJGL 2.0.

Cas :slight_smile:

#9

Software update hasn’t popped up yet. Only appears every week or so.

#10

Because it adds 64-bit JNI libraries? Does that mean that 32-bit JNI libs no longer work?

#11

It’s the server VM because it’s 64-bit and ported from Sun and the only 64-bit version that Sun had was the server VM. Seems odd… but they clearly are only doing the minimum to get by.

#12

AFAIK this version won’t be available through software update.

#13

“Java for Mac OS X 10.5, Update 1 is now available via Software Update. This update adds Java SE 6 version 1.6.0_05 to 64-bit Intel Macs.”

Source: http://developer.apple.com/java/

:slight_smile:

#14

Good deal. :slight_smile: I’ll be getting it soon, then.

#15

Best… bot… EVAR!