Some major vendors of Java to consider for Java 11 and later: So, for the purpose of bundling with your app, you will need to consider redistribution/deployment rights when choosing a JVM vendor and product. The new Java Modularization technology that began with Java 9, including the jlink and jpackage tools, make it easier than ever to bundle a down-sized JVM with your app.įor more info, see the white paper Java Client Roadmap Update of 2018-03.

That approach is the new normal, to be done across all platforms including macOS, Windows, Linux, etc.

This has already been commonly done on Macs, especially so if delivering an app through the Apple App Store. Instead, Oracle advises building your app as a standalone executable with a JVM bundled inside. Oracle will no longer encourage end-users to have a JVM by itself installed. Java Applet and Java Web Start technologies are being phased out. But the delivery of your app will change. If you make desktop apps to run locally on a Mac or other computer, you may continue to do so, and keep on using Swing and/or JavaFX as always. The upshot is that you should see very similar behavior and features across the various sources of Java for macOS. Oracle has recently announced their intention to reach feature-parity between their own Oracle-branded Java releases and the OpenJDK product this even included the donation of some of their previously-commercial tools such as Flight Recorder to OpenJDK. IBM, Oracle, and many other companies have contributed code and testing as well. Secondly, know that all releases for Java 11 and later for macOS are based on the same codebase, the open-source project known as OpenJDK.Īpple contributes Mac-specific code to this project, and has staff working on this to make sure that Java continues to work well on macOS. For both a summary as well as the gory details, read this white paper published by major figures in the Java community: Java Is Still Free OpenJDK And know that Java is still available freely without cost. Multiple vendors, both free and paidįirst, know that there are new options available for those wishing to pay for commercially supported implementations of Java. Yes, there have been several major changes to the evolution of Java in recent years, and they can be a bit confusing. Later, you can upgrade in the same manner, deleting the old JVM from that folder.

You will then find a JVM installed in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines. If you are an end-user needing a free-of-cost JVM to run a Java app on your Mac (rather than a developer), my personal recommendation is to download an.

Install java 11 macos