Mac abandoning the Java platform

[Joylove]

On Wednesday, as Apple cult leader Steve Jobs unveiled a future Mac OS incarnation dubbed "Lion" and a new Mac App Store, the company released a Java update for Mac OS X 10.6 — and the release notes revealed that the platform isn't long for Jobs' world. "As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the version of Java that is ported by Apple, and that ships with Mac OS X, is deprecated," the notes read.

"This means that the Apple-produced runtime will not be maintained at the same level," the note continued, "and may be removed from future versions of Mac OS X. The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products."

In an obviously related move, Jobs also banned Java apps from the upcoming Mac App Store. "Apps that use deprecated or optionally installed technologies (e.g., Java, Rosetta) will be rejected," the store's developer guidelines say.

So, in one day, Apple deprecated Java and announced that applications using deprecated technologies such as Java won't be allowed in its official Mac Apps Store.

Apple's interest in desktop Java has steadily waned over the years. Updates became less and less frequent, and the Java-Cocoa bridge was knocked down in 2006. But if the company completely kills the platform on the Mac, that's something else entirely.

It would appear that Apple intends to stop shipping Java for Mac on a future version of the OS — mostly likely "Lion." And the further implication is that it will halt all development of Java for Mac. If this happens, it will be left for someone else to provide a viable version of the platform for Macs. And if Apple doesn't open source its existing work, that's no easy task.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/10/21 ... n_the_mac/