Of course, there are always exceptions/edge cases. Oracle strives to make new versions of Java backward compatible and thus the vast majority of Java applications will work without any changes, i.e., they are binary compatible. More information about Java auto-update can be found in the What is Java Auto Update? page from .Ī frequently asked question is whether existing Java programs will continue to work after the update. Note that the Java auto-update for Windows 64-bit has now been implemented in Java 8 Update 20. Computers not running Windows 32-bit or OS X will also not be automatically updated, and will need to be manually upgraded. (OS X users can still have multiple JRE versions available for desktop applications.) In enterprises where the IT department manages Java setup and versions, auto-update will not affect users.
However OS X users will only have JRE 8 available in the web browser after the upgrade. On the Windows operating system, only the latest JRE will be replaced other JRE versions will be not be removed. JRE 8 was released on March 2014 and has been the default version on since October 2014. This is not a silent upgrade and requires user permission. Auto-update was turned on Januand affects Windows 32-bit and OS X users who use Java's auto-update mechanism. Oracle has started auto-updating Java runtime JRE 7 to JRE 8.
