Straddling the Java Runtime Environment line on OSX 10.10 Yosemite

June 7, 2015 3:44 PM

I run OSX 10.10 (Yosemite). I have some programs that need the current Java runtime environment; I have some programs that need a legacy JRE (6). I need to use both of them. Is there a solution (virtual machine?) that lets me do that?

My Adobe CC licenses are tied to my old job, and they're expiring. The amount of freelance work I do that requires them is minimal, so it's an easy expense to cut. I have the final CS suite — that's what won't run on the current JRE.

I'm hoping the answer isn't "Resave all the work in compatible formats and just swap in and out of JREs"

Bonus: Aren't prior, unsupported versions of Java open to a ton of exploits? Is that something that I have to seriously worry about or is that just Java FUD?

posted by klangklangston to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

As far as I know, the security problem with Java is threefold:

1. Java always installs its crappy applet plugin for your web browser
2. Web browsers autoplay this plugin content by default
3. Oracle has given up even attempting to secure said plugin, making 1 & 2 Very Bad Ideas.

So, I think installing an older Java would be fine as long as you secure the browser part, which you should be doing anyways.

(I'm left wondering which parts of Adobe CS need Java though. The usual suspects -- Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. -- definitely don't need it.)

Also, I've successfully installed Javas 6 and 7 on the same Mac before. It's possible, or at least it used to be.
posted by neckro23 at 4:13 PM on June 7, 2015

Response by poster: On my machine, both Photoshop and Illustrator CS 5.1 (which, in looking, is not actually the latest CS, but close enough for my work) give an error telling me to instal JRE 6.
posted by klangklangston at 5:55 PM on June 7, 2015

Usually when I run into this problem after upgrading a Mac to Yosemite OSX 10.10.x so I am assuming that this is what you are looking for.

Download and install the Java 6 plugin from the Apple Support website.
posted by Mac-Expert at 6:21 PM on June 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

Forgive me if this is piggybacking...My wife is also on 10.10 at her office, but has a desktop app that requires Java 6...She mistakenly installed Java 8 before she realized she needed Java 6. She installed Java 6 but it doesn't seem to work. How would one remove Java 8 in order to make sure Java 6 is the default?
posted by Thorzdad at 5:04 AM on June 8, 2015

To uninstall the JRE, you must have Administrator privileges and execute the remove commands either as root or by using the sudo(8) tool.

Remove one directory and one file (a symlink), as follows:

Navigate to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins and remove the JavaAppletPlugin.plugin directory.

Navigate to /Library/PreferencePanes and remove JavaControlPanel.prefpane.

Do not attempt to uninstall Java by removing the Java tools from /usr/bin. This directory is part of the system software and any changes will be reset by Apple the next time you perform an update of the OS.
posted by Mac-Expert at 10:35 AM on June 8, 2015

Response by poster: Mac-Expert: Yeah, 10.10.3. Will this let me use both sets of JRE?
posted by klangklangston at 11:37 AM on June 8, 2015

I don't know... sorry :-/
posted by Mac-Expert at 11:25 AM on June 9, 2015