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Oracle to kill off Java browser plugins with JDK 9

A bullet to the brain is too kind an end for Jeeves and the Ask.com toolbar

Oracle has announced that it will kill off Java browser plugins once JDK 9 debuts.

Big Red's post on the matter says it's sniffed the anti-plugin winds and agrees with the idea that plugins are so 90s and have no place in the modern browser, so “developers of applications that rely on the Java browser plugin need to consider alternative options such as migrating from Java Applets (which rely on a browser plugin) to the plugin-free Java Web Start technology.”

“Oracle plans to deprecate the Java browser plugin in JDK 9,” the post says. “This technology will be removed from the Oracle JDK and JRE in a future Java SE release.”

The plugin likely won't be missed, as it was often found to have security problems and required frequent updates. And then there was the Ask toolbar, a ride-along piece of foistware that made many a browser hostage to searches on ask.com. The toolbar was hard to avoid, because with every update of the plugin users were required to opt-out of its installation. Many inevitably forgot to do so. Some versions of Java also imposed McAfee security software on users, again by tricky means.

Microsoft last year decided the Ask toolbar was malware, but by then Oracle had moved on to a deal with Yahoo! to load its search bar with fresh Java installs.

Oracle earned a fee every time the search bar was installed, a boost to its bottom line that also earned it plenty of enmity from users who wondered why a colossal corporation needed to make a few cents by making its wares a conduit for crapware.

Browser-makers, however, have of late become wary of plugins as incident after incident fingered them as security risks. Big Red's clearly decided that for Java to remain relevant, it needs to make sure it's a post-plugin tool. Hence today's post. And the sighs of relief from anyone that has ever endured the irritation of Ask.com. ®

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