Java question

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 18 Mar 2017 3:10 pm

I recently installed Trend Micro Maximum Security. Since then whenever I start the computer I have been getting a prompt from TM telling me to update Java to the latest version to remedy security vulnerabilities, with a button to "Update now". Each time I dutifully clicked on that and nothing happened. What's up with that?

Wiz, you advised in my other recent thread to remove Java JRE and JVM. Knowing nothing about Java, I don't know if I had one or the other or both in my computer, but in my list of Programs to potentially uninstall, I had Java 8 (I think it was). So given the above I went ahead and uninstalled that. Was that the right move?

This computer has Windows 8.1. Is there a way to get to a list of installed programs where I can get information about them, such as what version, etc., and maybe the option to update them? The only list I can find only offers "Uninstall".

And, just to be sure, is Malwarebytes 3 compatible with TM Maximum Security, as distinct from TM Internet Security?

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 19 Mar 2017 7:17 pm

You did uninstall the correct version of Java. It sometimes changes its name that's shown in the list of programs to be uninstalled.

TMIS and MBAM 3 are compatible, but as I mentioned in an earlier reply to you, installing TMIS forces you to uninstall MBAM until it is fully installed or upgraded. Then you can reinstall MBAM.

Java, a compiled program, is rarely if ever needed any more. It was commonplace at the turn of Y2k and for a few years afterward. But, by about 2008 the vulnerabilities began exploding and after Java was sold to Oracle, development slowed. Oracle grudgingly and slowly patched vulnerabilities as security bloggers exposed them and advised people to uninstall the software.

Should it turn out that you have a program installed that required the Java Virtual Machine, it will let you know when it cannot launch or function correctly. If you don't need that program anymore, uninstall it or update to a newer version that isn't based on Java.

If you can't be without java, at least forbid it to run as a browser plug-in. There should be an option to do this within the Java Applet in Control Panel. This will let Java work in a desktop program, but not in your browsers, where most exploits occur.

As happened to Java, exploits and slowly patched zero day vulnerabilities in Adobe's Flash Player are leading to calls for its demise. Apparently, this is scheduled to happen sometime over the next couple of years.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 19 Mar 2017 10:36 pm

Java continues to be a big thing in the corporate world. Many server applications are written in Java. At one time, we thought that Java would be the universal language to run web applications in browsers. It didn't work out that way.

Unless you need it for some proprietary application at work, there's no reason to have Java on a Windows PC today. On Mac, Java updates are automatic and there are some consumer applications that rely on it. Java programmers (like me) sometimes write hobby programs (i.e. music-related stuff) for the Mac in Java. So I don't recommend removing it from a Mac.

FWIW, Google's Android operating system is written in Java, as are most (all?) Android apps. If you use an Android phone, you're running Java code all the time.

My next album will include some computer music written in Java.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 20 Mar 2017 2:43 am

I just finished drinking a cup of Java... I think...

Wiz, I noticed that Open, Libre, and Apace Office usually include Java. Is it necessary?

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 20 Mar 2017 6:38 am

Scott Duckworth wrote:I just finished drinking a cup of Java... I think...

Wiz, I noticed that Open, Libre, and Apace Office usually include Java. Is it necessary?

I have both OpenOffice 4.1.3 (latest) and LibreOffice 5.3 (latest) and neither contains or installed a Java component. Instead, both run on the Python language.

So, if you have one or both of these programs, uninstall them, download the newest version and lose the Java machines forever.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 20 Mar 2017 7:02 am

Thanks Wiz. That's why you 'da WIZ!

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 20 Mar 2017 8:12 am

In addition to programs I write, I use the Eclipse development platform which I believe is a Java application. Here's an interesting blog post listing the most in-demand programming languages today: www.codingdojo.com/blog/9-most-in-deman ... s-of-2017/

The Steel Guitar Forum is based on a PHP program called phpBB. PHP is losing popularity, as it should - it's a miserable language IMHO. Java, on the other hand, hasn't slipped at all. It's number 2 on the list, just behind SQL (the language used to talk to databases). The next big thing is Python, number 3 on the list. I'm learning Python now.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 20 Mar 2017 9:34 am

Sounds like my Pascal training is isn't in much of a demand.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 21 Mar 2017 11:25 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:Sounds like my Pascal training is isn't in much of a demand.

Heh - or my Cobol...like I could even write any now..

Man, that was a LONG time ago.

But, like they say, "Nostalgia's not what it used to be".