Apple's OpenJDK project to bring Java SE 7 to the Mac

When Apple said last month that it was deprecating its version of the Java runtime, some worried about Java’s future on Mac OS X. Worry no more: Apple has announced that it’s partnering with Oracle to bring Java SE 7 to Mac OS X as part of the OpenJDK project.

In October, Apple said that its most recent release of Java SE 6 was officially deprecated. That meant that Apple wouldn’t guarantee that its version of the Java runtime would stick around in future releases of Mac OS X, and that it would no longer be maintained at the same level as it had been in the past. Despite this, Apple said in Friday’s announcement that Java SE 6 will remain available in Snow Leopard and the upcoming release of Lion (Mac OS X 10.7).

As for OpenJDK, Apple says that it plans to contribute most of the components required to properly implement Java SE 7 in Mac OS X. That includes “a 32-bit and 64-bit HotSpot-based Java virtual machine, class libraries, a networking stack and the foundation for a new graphical client.”

Because the project is open source, Apple’s contributions will be available to open source devs who want to help contribute to the code as well. Apple also noted that Oracle would ultimately be responsible for the distribution of Java SE 7, including the versions available for Mac OS X (previously, Apple kept this responsibility to itself).

Apple likely decided to shift responsibility to Oracle because Apple doesn’t want to sacrifice any more time and resources to maintaining its version of Java, especially when Oracle’s usually a step ahead. Indeed, Apple senior VP of software engineering Bertrand Serlet’s statement on the topic seemed to indicate that the OpenJDK project was the best way to keep Java on Mac OS X going, but get it out of Apple’s hands.

“The best way for our users to always have the most up to date and secure version of Java will be to get it directly from Oracle,” Serlet said.