Six Lines

Apple Deprecates Java for Security?

Posted by Aaron Massey on 22 Oct 2010.

Recently, I took a shot at Apple’s security policy because of their FaceTime security hole, but maybe things aren’t all bad for Apple security.

Apple is deprecating the Java Runtime they port for Mac OS X. There’s an interesting discussion on Hacker News about the implications of this. Some folks believe this move means a new UI for Mac OS X since Apple’s Java port was mostly focusing on UI elements.

It’s certainly possible that Apple just doesn’t want to have to support their new UI on Java, but it’s also possible that Apple has realized that their epic delays in patching security holes in Java isn’t going to get any better. Thus, they could be deprecating Java to improve security on their systems. After all, Java is a gift for exploit pack makers. Of course, that explanation is just my speculation, but even if that isn’t their intent, removing Java would improve security on Mac OS X.