UPDATED 11:47 EDT / NOVEMBER 12 2010

Mac OS X Joins OpenJDK, Gets Flash Fixed

This has been a big week for Mac OS X. Oracle and Apple have come to an agreement about how to implement Java SE 7. This news comes out after things between Oracle and Apple appeared to have chilled since October, but now they’re back, raring for more. In an article at The Register, Kelly Fiveash cites some commentary from various executive figures at both corporations about the deal,

“The availability of Java on Mac OS X plays a key role in the cross-platform promise of the Java platform,” said Oracle’s senior development veep Hasan Rizvi.

“The Java developer community can rest assured that the leading edge Java environment will continue to be available on Mac OS X in the future. Combined with last month’s announcement of IBM joining the OpenJDK, the project now has the backing of three of the biggest names in software.”

Apple said that the components it would contribute to the project included a 32-bit and 64-bit HotSpot-based Java virtual machine, class libraries, a networking stack and the foundation for a new graphical client.

Seems like Mac OS X is going to see a Java overhaul. The deal also means that open-source coders will gain access to Apple’s Java tech and that App Store developers will also be able to get in on the action. In a statement, Apple stated that it will continue to implement Java SE 6 for Mac OS X Leopard and upcoming Mac OS X Lion; but later Java iterations of the JDK will be provided instead by Oracle.

Also this week a flurry of security flaw fixes for Mac OS X appear to have targeted the Flash implementation on the operating system. According to an article at All Things D almost 42% of the recent update’s fixes were Flash-related. About 131 vulnerabilities were shored up in the Mac OS and 55 of them related directly to the Adobe multimedia scripting engine. Good or bad, at least it’s getting attention, getting fixed, and not posing a threat to Mac users…


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