[ome-devel] Removal of support for Java 5

[Roger Leigh]

Dear all,

The OME project has evaluated the level of Java 5 usage across all of
the libraries, clients and server components which we support, from
Bio-Formats and its ImageJ plugin through to OMERO.server and its
clients.  We have found that the level of Java 5 usage has steadily
declined throughout 2012 and 2013 to very low levels at the present
day.  Most components currently have zero Java 5 usage. A very small
number of OMERO.insight users and a very small proportion of
Bio-Formats users are still using Java 5.

In the absence of any major blocker, we plan to remove support for
Java 5 in the upcoming 4.4.9 release, and in the next 5.0 beta
release.  At this point users and developers will require Java 6 or
Java 7 for these and future releases.

Note that Java 5 has had no public updates since April 2008, and was
end of life in October 2009¹.  In particular, please be aware that it
no longer has security updates.

We would be interested in hearing feedback if you are in a situation
where it is not possible to upgrade to a more recent version of Java,
and this change will cause problems.  In particular, it would be
useful to have the details of the system you are using.


Regards,
Roger Leigh


1. http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/eol-135779.html

--
Dr Roger Leigh -- Open Microscopy Environment
Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression,
College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dow Street,
Dundee DD1 5EH Scotland UK   Tel: (01382) 386364

The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096