Java SE 6 For Mac OS X

wchatam writes "After a long delay, Apple has finally released a version of Java 6 for OS X. 64-bit Intel Macs are starting to see this pushed out via Software Update, but there has not been an announcement for when 32-bit Intel and PowerPC Mac users will get their versions."

Re:So?

[c_forq]

All Macs have been 64-bit for quite a while now. The G5s were 64-bit (but that doesn't really matter, since this update is only for Intel Macs) and the only Intel Macs that aren't 64-bit are the original run of Mac Minis with the Core Solos, and the first iMacs with the Core Duos. All Intel MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and Mac Pros are 64-bit, along with any iMac since late 2006.

Re:Somewhat old.

[Graff]

Never mind the Apple fanboys which says that a G3 are still future proof.... Or how macs don't crash (mine crashed today for instance, I can somewhat understand it since Safari usually pick up like 800 MB of ram and I only have 2GB and I had run Google Earth aswell. And if the machine runs out of ram you get issues.

The Mac G3s are as "future proof" a any older processor can get. Apple has continued with every release of Mac OS X to support the PowerPC processors and they will probably continue to do so for at least a while longer. Even when Apple stops producing Mac OS X for PowerPC you can still keep on running whatever version of Mac OS X you currently have on it. Yes, eventually people will stop producing PowerPC binaries which will run on the G3 but by then that machine will be so outdated you're probably better off putting BSD or Linux on it and using it as a file server or router.

I don't know of anyone beyond the most clueless of idiots who think that Macs don't crash. Of course they can crash, every computer has a chance to crash. The thing is that Macs tend to crash less often than certain other computer platforms because Mac OS X and Apple hardware are designed to integrate tightly and there are less variables in their construction. Apple is also not immune to producing the occasional lemon but in experience they tend to build solid machines that have very few problems.

Mac OS X is VERY tolerant of situations where you are running low on RAM, once it has enough RAM to run itself. Generally once you are above about 512 MB of RAM you have a decent amount to run Mac OS X. Yes, it will run better with more RAM than that but for the casual user anything from 512 MB to 1 GB is pretty decent.

I don't know if you understand how modern operating systems work but generally they will load TONS into memory, even if they don't really need it. Just because Safari is "using" 800 MB of RAM doesn't mean that it's really using that much. A lot of that is caches, backing stores, associated libraries, and other support data that the operating system loads just in case it's needed. That sort of stuff can be overwritten in a jiffy if another application needs the memory. Not only that but a lot of that memory is likely to be libraries that are common to other running applications so 3 or 4 running applications might all be using the same 500 MB chunk of RAM.

I think you might want to read up [macosxhints.com] on memory management [apple.com] under Mac OS X [apple.com] before you make these sort of wild speculations...

Re:So?

[DurendalMac]

Um, no, anything using a Core Duo is 32-bit, which means the first gen of all Intel Macs with the exception of the Mac Pro. The Core 2 Duo was a 64-bit CPU, not the Core Duo.

Re:So?

[dgatwood]

The MacBook, the MacBook Pro, the Mac Mini, and the iMac all shipped with a Core Duo model initially. The only model that didn't is the Mac Pro. Oh, and Xserve....

Re:So?

[dlsmith]

So, nothing to see here unless you're a bleeding-edge Java+Mac fanboi.

There are a lot of reasons this is good news, even if it doesn't mean that Java/Mac developers can assume that most of their users have Java 6 installed.

• Current users of Java apps can get performance and bug improvements for existing apps. I noticed some Swing GUI improvements.
• Developers get compiler improvements (including a lot of type checker bug fixes) even if not targeting Java 6.
• Developers can gain experience with new APIs before actually deploying Mac apps that require them a couple of years down the road.
• I read that a major impediment for getting Java DTrace support was the lack of Java 6. I'm not sure what the status of DTrace support is now, but it'll be major good news for Mac Java developers when it becomes fully supported.