MRJ 2.2.2 Available

Apple Computer has released Macintosh Runtime for Java (MRJ) 2.2.2, its Java virtual machine for the Mac OS. Version 2.2.2 claims to improve memory usage and fix an unspecified security issue when used with Internet Explorer 5.0. MRJ 2.2.2 does not address network connectivity problems some users experience with Internet Explorer 5, although Apple claims to be working on those issues. Not surprisingly, MRJ 2.2.2 does not implement Sun’s Java 2 specification, instead sticking to JDK 1.1.8 and leaving Java on the Mac seriously behind other computing platforms. (Apple’s Java efforts are primarily focused on the forthcoming Mac OS X which should offer substantial and up-to-date Java capabilities.) MRJ 2.2.2 is a 4.7 MB download and requires a PowerPC-based system running Mac OS 8.1 or higher.