Mac OSX Tiger users finally taste Sun's Tiger

AFTER A LONG WAIT, Steve Jobs' munchkins quietly unveiled last week the anxiously expected Java 5.0 (code-named Tiger by Sun Microsystems) for the latest Mac OS X v10.4 - also code-named Tiger by the Cupertino-based fruity Corporation. The Apple release is currently based on the latest Sun code, J2SE 5.0 Update 2 (JDK version 1.5.0_02 in sunspeak). While Sun's McNealy and Apple's Jobs tend to get along well, Java on Mac OS-X has been getting late, lately. It took Apple about seven full months to finally ship this release, and that caused the annoyance of several in the Mac-camp.

For instance, Daniel Brookshier wrote in his blog last September an entry titled "I want my Java 5.0 - A Mac user's lament" where he said: "I am an Apple-based Java developer. I love my Apples (17-inch powerbook and a Dual G5) and the really love the way that Java performs. But where is Java 1.5 when you need it? Versions of Java 5.0 are released for Linux, Solaris, and MS. When will Apple release 5.0? Not really sure, but the rumors are that the sometime next year when Apple releases their next release of OS X. That's a long wait for someone that needs to be building products with the latest and greatest. He concluded his lament with: "One of the fastest growing customer segments for Apples are Java developers. You can see them all over the place - even at Sun. So, where is all the Apple love at Apple? If they want to sell more machines, why not get a preview out the door ASAP? Is it resources? If it is, Apple needs to shift gears and get over the fact that Java is a growing developer segment. There are a lot of Java developers out there. We need to get together and let Apple know we need Java 5.0 now.".

Users like Daniel can now rejoice, as they download and install Java 1.5 on top of the latest OSX. However, some are already complaining about Apple's apparent lack of plans to release Java 5.0 for earlier OSX releases. Another Apple OS-X user and blogger says in his blog: "Apple has released Java 1.5 as a manual download with no plans to release J2SE 5.0 for earlier releases of Mac OS X. Which I guess means that its not going to show up in Software Update for quite some time. (...) This is kind of a bummer - while I am glad to see that I will be able to code, and run Java 1.5 apps on my Mac - Java 1.5 was released about 9 months ago, and its finally just available as a manual download. This leaves me very curious as to why Apple doesn't want to make Java 1.5 the default JVM on Tiger".

Can't the Tigers just get along?
One interesting, if not laughable incident is one Apple user's outrage over Sun's use of the word "Tiger" to name their Java2 SE 1.5 product (lather renumbered from 1.5 to v5.0 by Sun's marketing drones). He said: "what does Java 1.5 have to do with the "Tiger"? Tiger is Apples code name for 10.4 and all this story states is that Mac OS X 10.4 will not ship with Java 1.5. So did Sun dub Java 1.5 Tiger as well?". Just for the record, Sun used the word 'Tiger' as early as April 2004 to refer to their then-upcoming Java update. Is the software world running out of clever code names?.

Not for applets anymore
Before you say "Who cares about Java", let me tell you my favorite phrase: "it's not just for applets anymore"; powerful, fast, and cross-platform applications written in Java are a reality today. Java was clearly a technology ahead of its time back when it was introduced to a world of Pentium I CPUs and 64MB RAM computers (I've been there, as I wrote the first "Running Java Apps in OS/2 FAQ" -back when Java was at version 1.0.something). But Sun's determination clearly paid off: today there are very useful, full-blown Java desktop applications which can be used and run unmodified on Macs, Linux and Windows. I use several of these apps on a daily basis, and some examples include the CrushFTP ftp server, or PhotoMesa, a zoomable digital photo browser, or the Phex and Azureus peer to peer clients, or the impressive Art Of Illusion 3D rendering software that rivals many commercial applications, just to name a few.

I can only hope that Tigerdirect doesn't sue Sun Microsystems for their use of the "T-Word"... that would certainly put a smile into the faces of Microsoft's Ballmer and SCO's McBride.µ

See Also
October 2004: SUN releases Java 5 aka 1.5.0 for Linux, Windows, and Solaris
Mac Tiger OS reviewed
TigerDirect sues Apple over 'Tiger'