Apple today released a new version of Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ), its implementation of the Java Virtual Machine. The new version is now available for download from Apple’s servers.
MRJ has been updated to version 2.2.4. The new version fixes a security problem that would, under certain circumstances, enable unauthorized Java applets to access the user’s local hard drive.
Sun Microsystems bills Java as a “simple, robust, object-oriented, platform-independent multi-threaded, dynamic general-purpose programming environment.” MRJ enables Java-based applications and software to run on Mac OS. The software follows Sun Microsystems’ Java 1.1.8 specification, and provides the ability for some Web browsers to run Java applications. A separate application runner called Apple Applet Runner is also included, to make it possible to run Java applets independently.
System requirements for MRJ 2.2.4 call for a PowerPC-based Macintosh running Mac OS 8.1 or later. As MacCentral went to press with this article, further details about the release of MRJ 2.2.4 were not available from Apple’s Web site.