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Java 6, 7 and 8 supported

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 2:11 pm
by SubJunk
As of version 4.0.2, we are releasing 9 different official versions - 3 for each operating system.

The default options are as they have been for a long time: Windows and Linux default to Java 7, while OS X defaults to Java 6.

We wanted to add Java 6 builds for Windows and Linux because for some users it's not possible to update past Java 6, and our Java 7 and 8 builds offer optimizations for those versions of the language, which can offer improved speed and security, and reduced file size.

The different options are available on the front page by clicking the advanced download options link. Enjoy :)

Re: Java 6, 7 and 8 supported

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 3:47 pm
by suicidesamurai
You guys do great work. Keep it up.

Re: Java 6, 7 and 8 supported

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 4:43 pm
by Sparktank
Very nice diversity!

Perhaps a little more info regarding Java 7 vs. 8?
It (should be) well known that support (from Oracle, developers of Java) have officially stopped for version 6.

But updates to Java 7 and 8 are continuing.
I have Java 7 installed for now, but it's still unclear if I should install Java 8 at all.

Windows 7 (x64).

Re: Java 6, 7 and 8 supported

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:41 pm
by SubJunk
Lestat87 wrote:You are all so damn awesome. Thanks for all the effort you put into UMS.
Thanks Lestat87! :)
suicidesamurai wrote:You guys do great work. Keep it up.
Thanks a lot! :)
Sparktank wrote:Very nice diversity!

Perhaps a little more info regarding Java 7 vs. 8?
It (should be) well known that support (from Oracle, developers of Java) have officially stopped for version 6.

But updates to Java 7 and 8 are continuing.
I have Java 7 installed for now, but it's still unclear if I should install Java 8 at all.

Windows 7 (x64).
Yes you're right that Java 6 is unsupported by Oracle now and we don't recommend using it, but of course acknowledge that for some users it's not possible to upgrade and they should still get to enjoy UMS :)
Java 7 vs Java 8 from a user perspective is mostly about security I think - Java 8 runtime has better security measures AFAIK. It also runs certain operations much more quickly, but mostly it's similar speed.

Personally I use and recommend Java 8. It's all backwards-compatible so I see no reason to not run the latest, personally. I don't know if the other UMS developers have different opinions on that or not.

Re: Java 6, 7 and 8 supported

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 11:21 pm
by SharkHunter
I'm to afraid to upgrade :). It works now :)
I should probably upgrade my computer has asked my 1000 times to do a java upgrade maybe it's time..

Re: Java 6, 7 and 8 supported

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:08 pm
by Sparktank
That's quite interesting to know.

I've had 7 and 8 installed for a long while since 8 surfaced for end-users.

I uninstalled 8 to see how 7 fairs after having used 8 for some time.
Tbh, I've not really noticed much difference between the two.
I'll wait a few more extensive updates for 8 before trying it again.
Or when Oracle says it's time to upgrade.
I believe they stated support for 7 will continue well into 2020+ decade.

But, this is quite the nice update to have so much variety. :)

Perhaps with something more extensive than Minecraft, this will certainly give a reasonable stress testing for 7 vs. 8. :geek: