Java is a programming language developed in the 1990s, that amongst other things was used to create Applets on many websites at that time. It is now no longer popular, and very few modern Websites utilise it.
Most modern browsers do not support Java ...
- Firefox ... ceased support in version 52
- Chrome ... ceased support in version 45
- Edge ... has never supported Java
Internet Explorer is the only "mainline" browser that still supports Java ...
- by utilising a Java "interpreter" known as JRE (Java Runtime Environment)
- If you are using Java with Internet Explorer, then only IE11 is still being updated by Microsoft, and is therefore the only "secure" version to use.
Java is not the same as Javascript ....
- Javascript does not require you to install an interpreter - Java does
- Javascript, in conjunction with HTML is still used to format many webpages - Java is used to create Applets, and is not much used anymore
- All browsers are natively able to decode Javascript - Java requires an interpreter, and is not supported by many modern browsers (see above)
Most people do not need to have Java installed on their computer ...
- We strongly recommend you Uninstall it, and see if you can get along without it.
... personally I uninstalled Java some years ago, and since that time, I cannot recall that I have ever been prompted to install it to view webcontent on any of the sites I've visited.
For the few of you who find that you do actually need to have JRE installed on your machine ...
- It is essential that you keep it up to date, to patch the vulnerabilities that are still being regularly found in it - the fact that at the time of writing we are on update 181 should tell you how frequently Java needs to be updated to keep it secure
- You should make regular manual checks, to ensure that you are using the latest version - as historically JRE's built in updater, has not always been as dependable as you might want it to be
- The latest Java JRE version can be found at .... JRE Download