Current Java

To run the current version of Java you need a computer that is running one of the following:

• Windows Vista^©
• Windows XP^©
• Windows 2000^©
• most versions of Unix (including Linux and Sun's Solaris)
• a recent Apple running a recent Mac OS.

You should also have 250 Megabytes available on your hard drive. If you have a recent version of Java installed on your computer it may be all you need for these notes. Apple computers and some Linux computers come with Java already installed, although it may be an earlier version. You don't need the very latest version, although for these notes you should have Java 5.0 or higher.

These notes show Java 6.0 on a typical Windows system. If you are running some other operating system there will be small differences in how you create and run programs, but no difference in the Java language itself.

J2SE 6.0 is available available at no charge from Sun Microsystems, Inc. at http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp . (This link is valid as of August 2008.)

The page is titled "Java SE Downloads". Find the appropriate Java download for your operating system. It is likely that you will want JDK 6 Update 7. Click on the Installation Instructions for details on installation. On the next page, click on the link appropriate for you computer (likely to be JDK for Microsoft Windows). The instructions give you more details than you really need, but look them over.

In brief: to install Java, go to http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp. You should see something like:

Click on the Download button next to JDK 6 Update 7. Of course, the exact details of this change on almost a monthly basis.