PJ\'sPal wrote:
Apple completely disabled Java plugin a while back due to a threat that was brought to their attention by Homland Security. Apple intended to pass updating of the Mac verision of Java onto the Java organization, now owned by Oracle, as a way to speed updates.
I don't exactly agree with the reason you state as Apple has publicly said they no longer believe Java to be a safe environment and seem to have eliminated it's use within OS X. Similar for the reason they no longer distribute Adobe Flash Player as part of the OS.
I had a critical web page for work designed by another company that required a Java plugin for it to function. (I have requested that they revise their site to avoid Java.)
Good move on your part. I also think that developers have been way too slow in converting from Java 6 to Java 7, as there is only one more day of public support from Oracle on 6.
Two days after the warning, the Java organization provided an update - Java 7, vxx. Since then, I have been regulalry getting updates from the Java organization (Java 7, vzz) to hopefully improve security in the plugin.
Unfortunately hope and reality are currently different. There are two new critical vulnerabilities being exploited in Java 7 that they say are not Java 6 issues.
What I don't need now is for Apple to send me another update for the Java Plugin that once again disables it.
Apple has not explained what happens to those of us whom are already at Java 7, vzz and getting updates from the Java organization. Is this a harmless update?
Your previous plug-in was disabled by the XProtect system, not a Java update. I thought it was a mistake then to not provide Lion / Mountain Lion users with the available Java 6 update and apparently many users who relied on it for a living let them know about it, as well. I believe that is the primary reason this update is being offered along with the fact that it was an update they already had in developer testing when the emergency patch came out.
As far as I know, this update will not interfer with your current setup and will allow you to switch between Java 6 and Java 7 should that ever be necessary. Instructions for doing so have been updated http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5559. All users I've dealt with, save one, either had no problem at all after installing the update or were able to get where they wanted to be using those instructions. One user managed to disable both plug-ins and the site they were trying to reach was having problems as well, which complicated their life.
I am still recommending that everybody who has Java SE 6 installed run the update in order to have the safest possible Java environment available today so that if they ever needed to revert to it in the future (hopefully for a limited period of time) it would be there and work for them. If it were easy to remove and re-install, if necessary, without damage to the OS, my advise would be different.