Apple released two Java updates on Tuesday, one for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and the other for OS X 10.7 Lion and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Both are to improve security by uninstalling an Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers.
Tuesday’s updates go further and remove the Apple-built Java plug-in from all web browsers, forcing users to download the latest version curated directly by Oracle.
The move is the next step in Apple’s plan to deprecate maintenance of its own Java runtime, which was announced in 2010. Apple subsequently dropped Java from OS X 10.7 Lion and placed the burden of future development on the OpenJDK community.
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 11
From the release notes:
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 11 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_37.On systems that have not already installed Java for Mac OS X 10.6 update 9 or later, this update will configure web browsers to not automatically run Java applets. Java applets may be re-enabled by clicking the region labeled “Inactive plug-in” on a web page. If no applets have been run for an extended period of time, the Java web plug-in will deactivate.
Please quit any web browsers and Java applications before installing this update.
The Java update for Snow Leopard is 81.9 MB and can be downloaded via Software Update or Apple’s Support Downloads webpage.
Java for OS X 2012-006
From the release notes:
Java for OS X 2012-006 delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_37.This update uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers. To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled “Missing plug-in” to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.
Please quit any web browsers and Java applications before installing this update.
Apple’s update for Lion and Mountain Lion is 67.2 MB and can be downloaded via the Mac App Store or Apple’s Support Downloads webpage.
