JDK 1.6.0_10 is Out – Applet Stability Goes Final
I've been using the betas and release candidates of JDK 1.6.0 for several months now as it's the only version that allows me to properly run one of my apps in Java WebStart and have the graphing applets I've written work in web pages. It's been a know issue for Sun for a long time, and 1.6.0_10 has been in "beta" and then "release candidate" for a long time - I mean months. So it was nice to see yesterday that they finally released it.
I got the Windows and Linux versions and put them on my machines. It's where I need the WebStart and applet stability that this version gives me. Why they called it '10' when the last one I remember was '7', I don't know. I'm guessing a different group of guys was working on this from the main-line code, and it's taken so long because in addition to their features and fixes, they had to merge back in all the changes to the main JDK branch.
In any case, I'm sure it'll be a while before it shows up on Software Update... Apple is not the early adopter of JDK releases, they go through a lot of work when they get a new one, and that's OK with me. Mac OS X is a great java development platform, and the applet support was (and is) great without the need for JDK 1.6.0_10. But I'll bet that we see it. If not soon, then in Snow Leopard due out in January.