Oracle Java SE Support Roadmap

Oracle provides this updated roadmap for Java SE and Oracle Java SE commercial offerings (Oracle Java SE Support, Oracle Java SE Advanced and Oracle Java SE Suite) to help customers better understand the maintenance and support options available. Java SE major releases are maintained for a minimum of 3 years from general availability date (GA date), or later, as described in the next section. Java SE releases are updated with bug fixes, security fixes, and minor updates for a period of at least 3 years before the release reaches end-of-life (EOL). Oracle Java SE commercial product releases will be supported for up to eight years from initial release date, enabling IT managers to plan their upgrades according to their individual business practices. The following provides a more detailed review of the Java SE products support roadmap, along with examples specific to available major releases. All customers should refer to their specific service contract to determine their support entitlement. See the Oracle Lifetime Support Policies for complete details.

 

Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) Major Releases

Major releases of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE), are identified as 1.4.0, 5.0, 6 and 7. As of the publishing of this article, the Java technology end of public updates policy has been clarified to confirm public availability of Java SE major releases for at least:

• Three years after the general availability date (GA) of a major release
• One year after the GA of a subsequent major release
• Six months after a subsequent major release has been established as the default Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for end-user desktops on java.com

Consistent with previous policies and documentation, Oracle will post an end of public updates notice for each major release well in advance, indicating that the release has entered into it's transition period. Once the release has completed it’s transition period, no new downloads of that release will be made publicly available on the public Oracle web sites, and will only be available through the My Oracle Support web site.  Previously available older releases will continue to be available for support and debugging through the Java Archive but are not recommended for production use.

 

 

Java SE 6 End of Public Updates Notice

After February 2013, Oracle will no longer post updates of Java SE 6 to its public download sites. Existing Java SE 6 downloads already posted as of February 2013 will remain accessible in the Java Archive on Oracle Technology Network. Developers and end-users are encouraged to update to more recent Java SE versions that remain available for public download. For enterprise customers, who need continued access to critical bug fixes and security fixes as well as general maintenance for Java SE 6 or older versions, long term support is available through Oracle Java SE Support .

Java SE Minor Release Lines

Java SE minor release lines represent a cumulative set of implementation enhancements to a major release, such as the Java SE 1.4.1, and 1.4.2 minor release lines to the Java SE 1.4 major release. Java SE minor releases do not have separate EOL periods from their corresponding major release. Once a new Java SE minor release is made available, the previous Java SE minor release line for a release will be considered superseded. Download links for the previous minor release line will be moved to the EOL and Product Archive page for historical purposes and to allow developers to resolve issues with those products that have completed their EOL process. Please note that releases from this page may contain bugs and security problems that have been fixed in a later release and for that reason downloads of superseded versions is not recommended.

 

Oracle Java SE Commercial Offering Releases

Customers seeking longer standard support and maintenance periods for each major release are encouraged to migrate to the Oracle Java SE commercial offerings (Oracle Java SE Support, Oracle Java SE Advanced and Oracle Java SE Suite). Oracle Java SE commercial offerings releases will follow the Oracle standard EOL policy for licensable products. As such, during a release’s five (5) year transition period, customers will be eligible to receive Oracle Premier Support for that entire period, in accordance with their support contract with Oracle. Past those 5 years, support customers will receive critical bug and security fixes as well as general maintenance releases as per the Oracle Extended Support terms. Oracle Java SE Support puts you in control of your upgrade strategy so you can enjoy continued peace of mind, knowing that no matter which product release you're running, Oracle can support your business.

Examples of some key product dates for Oracle Java SE commercial offerings include:

Update Releases & Revisions

As a new implementation of an existing release, an update or revision itself does not have a separate EOL period. Once a new update or revision is posted, the previous, displaced download will be moved to the Java Product Archive page.