As rumored, Java 1.5.0 (code named Tiger) was released as a separate download for Mac OS X 10.4 (also code named Tiger) on April 29th. So if you’re running Tiger (the OS) and are geeky enough to read this blog, you probably want the new Java. The linux labs have all been using Java 5 for a while and it’s a worth while upgrade if you plan to do any developing with it or if you just want your Java apps to run better.
You can download it here. It doesn’t replace 1.4.2. So you will need to manually edit the symbolic link pointing to 1.4.2 to point to 1.5.0. This can be done using the Terminal.
% cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions
% sudo ln -sfh 1.5.0 CurrentJDK
That’s it!
J2SE 5.0 Release 3 just became available under Software Update (11/20?) if you use that in your copy of OSX…