Product

Mac OSX 10.2-10.3

Platform

Operating system

Error

How do you check which Java version is installed on a Mac OSX?
Can you downgrade from Java version 1.4x to 1.3?

Cause

Solution

Checking which Java version you are running:

Navigate to the Applications/Utilities folder and launch the Terminal (UNIX equivalent for DOS-prompt). In the command prompt window type "java -version" (no quotations marks, space after java).

Upgrading and downgrading Java versions:

Java 1.4.2 Update 2 completely replaces the current Java 1.4 implementation on Panther systems (1.4.1 or 1.4.2), and is not removable once installed.

You cannot roll a Mac OSX Panther system back to Java 1.4.1 after installing 1.4.2. The only way to do this is to re-install the entire system.

Mac OSX Panther initially shipped with installations of J2SE 1.3.1 and 1.4.1.

Java 1.4.2 Update 2 is now available for Mac OS X Panther v10.3.4, based on the J2SE 1.4.2_05 SDK. It includes improved behavior for applets in Safari, and increased stability for desktop Java applications, including all of the improvements in 1.4.2 Update 1. As of the Jaguar release, J2SE 1.3 and 1.4 installations can coexist on the same system (1.4.1 needs to be downloaded for Jaguar via Software Update).

Technical contact(s)

Oleg Litvinov

Submitted by

Oleg Litvinov

Date submitted

10 January 2005