[evilfantasy]

Java SE Downloads

Scroll down to Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 Update 10

After installing the new update use JavaRA to completely remove the old version(s)

Download JavaRa

• Unzip the file and open the JavaRa.exe
• Click Remove Older Versions
• JavaRa will search for and remove any outdated version of Java and remove any that are found.
• Click Additional Tasks
• Place a check next to Remove Useless JRE Files and click Go
• Exit JavaRa
• Delete the JavaRa files from the Desktop

[evilfantasy]

I have read that beginning with this version Java will now overwrite the old version.

[Hybr!d]

Originally Posted by evilfantasy

I have read that beginning with this version Java will now overwrite the old version.

About time they did that.

[evilfantasy]

There was actually multiple reasons that it hasn't up to now. I wonder what they have done to work around these issues? Maybe the new version is backwards compatible so to speak.

Sun issues Java software for both apps developers (SDK series) and apps end-users (JRE series). There have been a fair number of threads on the JRE updating/non-uninstalling mess on BBR forums over the last couple of years.

As I understand things, not all Java versions necessarily work identically regarding some of their routines and calls... so complete version-version compatibility may not fully exist for all features. That means applications written around a specific Java version may not play well with other subsequent Java versions. Java applications may range from entertainment (games, etc) all the way to complex technical programs (molecular modeling, mathematical filtering, chemistry, etc). Many of these apps are designed to work primarily on servers in an intranet setting that may not ever involve direct Internet contact (and security risks); others are intended for use with Internet-aware corporate networks: and still others are written for website use.

As a result, Sun has elected to not automatically uninstall old Java JRE versions when installing a new version... they are permitted to exist side-by-side on a computer to preserve user access to application software that may have been written around behavior unique to an older Java version. Sun's business focus is serving developers via the SDK products (and hopefully for Sun, Sun's workstations)... the JREs are provided free to enhance easy use of the developers' products. To automatically uninstall old JREs during new-version JRE installs would be to undercut developers (Sun's real customers) who may have written and sold apps around the old JREs and certain feature operations unique to those old versions. I.e.: Sun does not desire to automatically break their paying customers' apps.

Most of us in these forums (and home PC users in general) view a Java JRE as merely a seldom-used tool for accessing certain obscure Internet website features on a few (if any) sites - if we even have any comprehension of Java at all. But our view is limited to just one tiny facet of the Java universe. In that context, don't be surprised that Sun elects to largely ignore the security implications of not automatically uninstalling old Java JREs upon individual PC users like us in favor of leaving them there so as to not create version-compatibility chaos for their paying customers - and those customers' customers. And I frankly have no expectation that Sun will ever create auto-uninstallers for JREs for that reason.

What I would hope to at least see is a cautionary label on the JRE download pages that alerts visitors to the fact that older JREs usually carry security vulnerabilities and should be uninstalled off Internet-facing machines. But even that is fraught with potential confusion from Sun's perspective, since Java commercial-apps users also visit the JRE download pages at times to obtain new versions for recently-purchased apps, and could be led to uninstall older JREs off their system that are still essential for older apps running on their networks.

In the end, I think the only thing that can be done in all practicality is to keep alerting forum users (and our home-user acquaintances) that they absolutely need to uninstall all older JREs whenever they download a new JRE update. There is little if anything on a home machine that will be put at risk by dumping the old versions... and definite malware immunity to be gained.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19594880-

[MJM]

Originally Posted by Dave Hybrid

About time they did that.

I like keeping older versions. Allows me to run more compatibility tests with my java apps.

[Glaswegian]

That's fine but it also depends on how far back your old versions go - anything from v5 onwards should be OK. Anything older is a definite security risk and should be removed.

[evilfantasy]

I guess my question would be... how many of the old versions will it remove? Just the most recent or will it scan for all older versions?

I went through a few rounds of installing/uninstalling Java once when investigating how/when users were prompted to install the Google toolbar. I don't feel like doing that again right now

[evilfantasy]

I just installed version 6u10 on a Vista and it did not remove version 6u6. Not sure I am going to believe that the older versions are removed yet.