Java is silly

• April 13, 2008
• James Skemp
• software

My main computer is, once again, horribly low on free space. Running through my installed programs, I once again see the wonders of installing Java.

Multiple versions of 1.4, 5, and 6.

Checking my new Vista machine, I have Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 1, but not the Java(TM) 6 Update 5 that my XP Home has. Are these really the same? Yes, yes they are (thanks for sticking with not only one versioning chain, but also one name, Sun).

So, I manually run the Java checker on my Vista machine, which says I'm up-to-date. However, checking the Sun site, I'm told that I'm not. Surprise surprise, I end up getting a Java(TM) 6 Update 5 entry on my Vista machine.

(FYI, Vista Home Premium, by default, doesn't have Java 1.4 or 5 installed.)

Anyways, having cleaned off older installs (but keeping one version of 1.4 and 5) I gained at least a GB of space.

I understand why they keep the older versions, and I'm sure it's nice, but give us the option/warning to uninstall the older versions, eh?