Hi all
VStar currently requires at least version 1.7 of Java.
As I've done a couple of times since 2010, I'm considering moving the minimum requirement up to Java 1.8, usually just referred to as Java 8.
If you think you are unable to run Java 8 on your computer, can you let me know please, either here or via my AAVSO contact page or email? This is only likely on quite old OS versions.
Here's the Java 8 download page with information about supported platforms (every OS, basically):
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
It's worth noting that Java 8 was first released in 2014 and updates for Java 1.7 ended in 2015.
I don't have a timeline for when a move to Java 8 will happen but I want to start thinking about it, exploring potential benefits and problems etc.
I can say more about the reasons for the desire to move to Java 8 if anyone is interested, but they fall into 3 main categories: performance improvements, language features, library enhancements/additions.
Thanks.
David
ps - I'm aware that many of you may already be running VStar with Java 8, perhaps without actually realising it. I am. What I want is to be able to make use of features present in Java 8 but not in Java 1.7 (or just Java 7) or earlier.
Hi,
I've heard that recent editions of Firefox won't run the latest version of Java. Surely not?
It appears that Firefox dropped support for NPAPI, required by Java applets (Java 7 and 8), Silverlight and so on. See https://www.java.com/en/download/help/firefox_java.xml
Java webstart files (such as vstar.jnlp) just need to be downloaded and run, as opposed to Java applets that are run within the browser.
There's nothing on the page above suggesting impact upon webstart.
Others may have seen other information about this but it appears to not be a problem for us, and if it is, you would have seen it already if using Java 7.
David
I am runing JAVA 8 on my Ubuntu machine. It works well though I have not recently updated the program with the newest update.