Bloglog131

• Latest Version:

• Requirements:

  Windows Vista64 / Windows 7 64 / Windows 8 64 / Windows 10 64

• Author / Product:

  Oracle / Java Runtime Environment (64-bit)

• Old Versions:

• Filename:

  jre-8u77-windows-x64.exe

• MD5 Checksum:

  da691970b58ab3928d9c45a81e47005c

Java SE Runtime Environment 8 Downloads. Do you want to run Java™ programs, or do you want to develop Java programs? If you want to run Java programs, but not develop them, download the Java Runtime Environment, or JRE™. Java Plug-in technology, included as part of the Java 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (JRE), establishes a connection between popular browsers and the Java platform. Java allows applications to be downloaded over a network and run within a guarded sandbox. Security restrictions are easily imposed on the sandbox.

Website Retired

September 2018: The time has come to retire this website. Simply put, it is not needed any more as very few people use Java applets in a web browser. For now, the site will remain available just for the sake of digital archaeologists. It has been around so long, that I lost track of when it first went live. My best guess is January 2003.

In its day, the site was useful to many people and for that I'm glad. To illustrate this, the main page of this site, the one with the online Java Tester, was viewed over 20 million times, since July 2008. Wow.

My new gig is maintaining the RouterSecurity.org website. Like this site, it is not commercial in any way; there are no ads, no tracking, no affiliate links. Just me.

Michael Horowitz

About Java (last revisions: Oct. 16, 2013 | Jan 25,2013 |Jan 15,2013 | Oct 2012

Java is supported on Windows, OS X and Linux. It is not supported in iOS or Chrome OS. Java is very much involved in Android, but not in a way that is visible to end users.

Java is used both online and offline in Windows, OS X and Linux. The online use involves Java programs, typically referred to as 'applets', embedded in a web page. All the security issues regarding Java involve applets. Offline, Java is used by applications installed in your operating system. Examples of these applications are below in the 'Do you need Java' section. The topic of Java being used in a web browser vs. an installed application was addressed by Steve Gibson on the Jan 16, 2013 edition of his Security Now podcast (do a find for 'Jared').

A component of Java has to be installed on a computer before Java programs can execute, either online or offline. This component has a couple names. It was initially referred to as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), but now the more common term is JRE (Java Runtime Environment). Sometimes, it is just referred to as Java, which is a big misnomer as there are many parts to the Java ecosystem.

The latest edition of Java is version 7. It comes from Oracle and is supported on Windows, OS X and Linux. Oracle gave up issuing bug fixes for Java version 6 in the middle of 2013 (for free that is; you can pay Oracle for Java 6 bug fixes). Apple continues to issues bug fixes for Java 6 on Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion.

On Windows, the Java runtime (JRE) may or may not be pre-installed, the decision is left up to the hardware manufacturer. A Java version 6 runtime was pre-installed by Apple on OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard, but starting with Lion, Apple stopped pre-installing Java. Java 6 can be installed on Lion and Mountain Lion, but it will not run applets. Java 7 can be installed on Lion and Mountain Lion to run applets. Java 7 can not be installed on Snow Leopard. Lion and Mountain can have both Java 6 and Java 7 installed concurrently.

The Java runtime (JRE) on Windows comes from Oracle (previously from Sun). On OS X, Apple supplies the JRE for Java version 6, while Oracle supplies the JRE for Java version 7. Oracle is the official supplier of the JRE for Linux, but there are also other sources available. Microsoft used to maintain their own JRE on Windows but that fell by the wayside long ago. In the old days Netscape had their own JRE as did IBM and others.

Just because a Java runtime is installed, does not mean that a web browser will actually use it. There are three possible reasons for this:

1. The use of Java may be disabled in any one browser. The only exception here is Internet Explorer which, despite what you may read online, is not capable of totally severing its connection to Java.
   
2. Starting with Java 7 Update 10, the use of Java online by all installed web browsers can be disabled with a new checkbox in the security section of the Java Control Panel. To date, my experience has been that while this works, web browsers incorrectly report that Java is not installed at all.
   
3. The web browser may be architecturally unable to run Java. One example of this is Chrome on OS X Lion and Mountain when Java 7 is installed (it is a 32 bit vs. 64 bit issue). Another example is the tile world version of Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 which does not support any plug-ins.
   
4. Apple may not allow it. On OS X systems (Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion) the XProtect feature has been used by Apple to prevent Java from running in Safari (not sure of other browsers, I've read conflicting information). To see this in Lion and Mountain Lion, go to System Preferences -> Security section -> Advanced button. There should be a checkbox to 'Automatically update safe downloads list'.

Currently Java has a poor reputation for an endless stream of security flaws. But well before this, Apple and Microsoft did not like Java because it made their operating systems less important. A Java program can, in theory, run equally well on Windows, OS X and Linux. And, that's just for starters. As long as there is a JRE for an operating system, Java programs can run on that system. This opens up other environments too, such as IBM mainframes and Unix. The popular phrase, in the early days of Java was 'write once, run anywhere'. But, it all went wrong, well before security flaws became the main Java story.

As it played out over the years, Flash beat out Java in the marketplace on the client side (your computer). Flash served the same cross platform needs that Java was intended for. There were annoying differences between Java runtimes from different vendors which led to the sarcastic phrase 'write once, debug everywhere.' It may be that Flash won out simply because there was only one source (Adobe now, Macromedia initially) for its runtime environment. On the server side however, Java has always been popular.

Java programs are prepared for execution in the JVM/JRE by being translated into something called Java bytecode. The Java Runtime Environment doesn't really care about, or deal with, the Java programming language, it takes Java bytecode as input. This, along with assorted advantages to using a JVM, has led to other programming languages also being translated into Java bytecode so that they can be run in a Java Virtual Machine. In Sept. 2013 Wired reported on two such popular languages, Clojure and Scala. A version of Ruby known as JRuby also runs in a JVM. Wired reported that Twitter runs entirely inside JVMs mostly using software written in Scala but also some written in Java. LinkedIn is also married to JVMs and uses a mixture of Java and Scala.

Now that security flaws are the big issue with Java, the safest best practice is to un-install Java and see if anything breaks. I say this because, as far as I know, there is no inventory function that reports on Java usage system-wide. Since all the security issues have been with Java applets embedded in web pages, someone that only needs Java for installed applications, should disable its use in all browsers using a security feature first introduced in Java 7 Update 10 (see Oracle's instructions). Someone needing to run Java applets should normally use a web browser that has Java disabled and use a second browser, with Java enabled, exclusively on the site(s) that need Java. If you are not sure which sites use Java, Google's Chrome browser is your friend, as it warns before running Java applets.

The Version page of this site verifies that a browser is capable of running Java applets in web pages by running a very simple applet that displays the version of Java. It also has a history of Java releases and instructions for disabling Java in assorted browsers. The source code for the applet is on the About page.

Java applets can, optionally, be digitally signed. Those that are not, started generating a new pop-up warning with the introduction of Java 7 Update 11. The 'version' applet on this site is not signed. Neither are those from Oracle that test if Java is working (here and here).

Finally, you may see Oracle mention the Java security baseline. This refers to the latest version of Java that contains no security flaws. This is not necessarily the latest version. There is a different security baseline edition for Java 6 and 7. To illustrate, as of mid-January 2013, Update 37 was the security baseline edition for Java 6. Windows users had access to Update 38 which contained bug fixes, but no security related bug fixes. Apple did not produce an Update 38 for the Mac, they maxed out at Update 37.

My Blogs

• What's new with Java October 31, 2014. About: 3 latest versions of Java, turning off SSL 3.0, securing Java, running applets, a bug with 'high security' and what it really means for the Java runtime to expire.
• There are a dozen known flaws in Java March 10, 2013
• Yet another Java security flaw discovered - Number 53 January 27, 2013
• Understanding the new security in Java 7 Update 11 January 21, 2013
• How to be as safe as possible with Java January 13, 2013
• Choosing between Java version 6 or 7 November 7, 2012
• The ugly side of the latest Java updates October 18, 2012
• Despite new patch, Java 7 is still dangerous. Go with version 6 August 31, 2012
• Java security flaw: yada yada yada August 30, 2012
• Defensive Computing with Java June 20, 2012
• Open Office installs vulnerable Java software November 2, 2011
• Java: use it or lose it October 18, 2010
• Java: Should it stay or should it go? October 13, 2010

Do you need Java?

In April 2012, Ed Bott adressed this by listing some applications and websites that require Java. See How big a security risk is Java? Can you really quit using it?. Some omissions from the article are

• GoToMyPC - from Citrix, works better with Java, though it is not required
• Crashplan uses Java in its Windows, OS X and Linux software. Java is included in their app.
• GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar, also from Citrix, require Java
• The Wall Street Journal website, wsj.com, uses Java for dynamic charts
• The online New York Times crossword puzzle uses Java in the Scorecard section of the site to track the playing history of crossword puzzle users. Java is also used for the SET and Sudoku puzzles.
• Box.net on Windows uses Java to upload folders when using Firefox and Internet Explorer. Not, however, with Chrome.
• ThinkFree Office Online
• Cyberduck, an open source file browser and file transfer program for OS X and Windows
• jEdit a text editor for programmers. jEdit is free, open source and runs on OS X, Windows, OS/2, Unix and VMS (which was the whole idea for Java after all).
• FreeMind mind mapping software
• PortMapper a tool for managing port forwarding via UPnP
• France's online voting system
• Scottrade
• Angry IP scanner, a free port scanning program
• The Australian Taxation Office requires Java on the website used by small businesses to pay their taxes
• ScanNow from Rapid7 searches a network for devices vulnerable to UPnP flaws (Windows only)
• Yahoo SiteBuilder (a security problem)
• Banks in Europe. I have read many comments about banks in Europe that require Java on their websites. One example is Banque Internationale à Luxembourg which uses a system called LuxTrust (thanks Oliver for the link)
• CommSecIRESS a real-time trading platform for Australian equities, ETOs, ETFs and more.
• ProjectLibre is an open source replacement of Microsoft Project
• Sharefile.com uses Java when users need to upload entire folders
• AeroFS uses Java and on Windows systems, it ships with a dedicated copy of OpenJDK.
• Game sites pogo.com and gamesville.com use Java
• DataFerrett for census data at dataferrett.census.gov
• Pingtest.net requires Java for packet loss testing
• Leo Laporte is a Comcast customer. On the Oct 16,2013 edition of Security Now he said that he was forced to use a Java based chat program to deal with Comcast when he moved.
• LuxSci webmail (only for some advanced features)
• Libre Office uses Java for some functions but functions fine without it.

On the other hand are web sites that have walked away from Java:

• The time.gov website for Official U.S. Time replaced Java with HTML5
• The Secunia Online Software Inspector has been discontinued.
• Minecraft used to require Java but no more. See Minecraft Doesn’t Need Java Installed Anymore. It now ships with its own embedded instance of Java.

Terminology (Revised January 15, 2013)

Java 8.77 32 Bits 2

Java 8.77 32 Bit Download

In the beginning, Java programs embedded in web pages were called applets. That's the term I use on this site because it was created long ago. Now however, things are more complicated. According to Oracle, Java programs running inside a browser 'includes plugin applets, Java Web Start applications, embedded JavaFX applications, and access to the native deployment toolkit plugins'.

Windows users may find the term applet used to describe the small applications in the Control Panel (Power Options, Mouse options, Administrative Tools, etc.). These control panel thingies have nothing to do with Java, other than the Java one, which is referred to as the Java Control Panel.

Java applets can be digitally signed. Those that are not are referred to as 'unsigned', 'untrusted' and 'sandboxed'.

JavaScript is separate and distinct from Java. No relationship at all.