Oracle is getting rid of the Java browser plug-in. The plug-in is a great bait for malicious web exploits. By 2016, Java will have disappeared from Oracle, Firefox and Chrome.
Java Will Take A While to Go Away Completely
The Java Platform Group revealed Oracle would be getting rid of the JAVA browser plugin in JDK 9, and it will also be taken out of JRE in a ‘future Java SE release’. JDK 9 stands for Java Development Kit 9 and it will launch in 2017. This is kind of a dumb move, given the fact that all major browsers will no longer support Java plug-ins.
Mozilla Firefox isn’t supporting Java as of the end 2016. Chrome already stopped supporting it in September, along with all other plug-ins that use Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface standard. Even Microsoft Edge stopped supporting plug-ins.
Java Only Has Public With Safari and Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer and Safari are now the only browsers that accept traditional plug-ins. Unless Java starts to support PPAPI technology, which Chrome supports, they’re pretty much gone from the spectrum.
Oracle posted a statement saying that they will feature browser-specific plugins. These plugins would work specifically for browser functionality. Users who want to use a plug-in similar to Java they can use Java Web Start apps. These can be launched from the internet without the need of a plug-in.
Java won’t disappear completely since business environments use many Java applications to remain functional. Additionally, in order for many applications to stay functional, they need to use Java 6 and 7. They’re not updated anymore, but it will be some time before another plug-in can completely support them.
Meanwhile, Chrome and Firefox Get Faster and Safer
Chrome is getting a new update that will boost its speed and stability. This comes after their switch from UIWebView to WebKit. The company announced that Chrome will crash 70% less on iOS because of this update. Google hasn’t done much for Chrome draining phone battery on iOS. Even despite that, Chrome is still a significant competitor to Safari. This is the most recent significant update to the mobile version of Chrome, while the web version has seen many great updates.
Mozilla Firefox saw the Firefox 44 browser update, which solves 12 important security issues including unsafe memory manipulation through code inspection, a buffer overflow issues in WebGL and memory safety bugs.
