Oracle has announced the release of Java SE 7 Update 6, which brings full support for Java SE 7 to OS X for the first time.
With this release, Oracle is providing full availability of Java SE 7 Update 6 on Mac OS X, including the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and the Java Development Kit (JDK), as well as the JavaFX 2.2 rich client platform and JavaFX Scene Builder.
Oracle says that soon consumers will be able to download the JRE for Mac OS X from Java.com, just as it is done on other platforms, and Oracle will be providing auto-updates for the OS at the same time as Windows updates.
Apple had announced in October 2010 that it was discontinuing its support for Java. At that time, It was noted by Steve Jobs that having Apple responsible for updates generally resulted in Java for OS X being one version behind other platforms, saying, that “may not be the best way to do it.” A statement proven true by the Flashback malware attack earlier this year that was able to infect 600,000 Macs by taking advantage of a Java vulnerability that had been patched in most versions of Java, but not yet fixed by Apple.
