Java 8 on Win XP?

D

Dimitri

Member
I was going to update to Java 8, but then the installer said this version is supposed to run on a newer version of my OS (I have win XP), but that I can continue with the installation.

Should I update?
 
Do you access any websites that need java to work properly? If not, Uninstall it totally.
 
johnb35 said:
Do you access any websites that need java to work properly? If not, Uninstall it totally.
Click to expand...

Doesn't most of the internet use java?

I use no script in firefox and I have to enable stuff all the time, but I guess that's not java, right?

Can I do without java?

Presuming I'm gonna use Java, can I update to 8 given that I'm on XP, is it gonna work without problems?
 
Read this.

https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/winxp.xml

They are still making security updates for java 8 for XP. However, since XP isn't supported anymore they can't guarantee you won't have a security risk.

What I would do is uninstall java and visit your normal websites and see if it needs java to run correctly. You most likely don't need to have it.
 
Now that I think about it, I DO frequently get messages that I have to enable java (due to no script blocking things), so I can't do away with it.
 
Any reason you are still hanging onto XP? It's been out of support for a while now, as you can see many applications are dropping dependencies for that OS as it's been deprecated.
 
Just because everything works fine so no reason to change anything. I also have a slightly older computer, don't know how 7 or 10 would run on it.

That FAQ that johnb35 links to is kind of ambiguous. Unclear whether they are saying its unsafe because using Java 8 on Win XP is unsafe, or just because Win XP is unsafe. Seems like they are just saying the latter. As John said, they are saying they're still making security updates for Java 8 for XP - so then what they are saying is that the risk comes just from having Win XP, not from having Java 8 on XP.
 
Dimitri said:
Unclear whether they are saying its unsafe because using Java 8 on Win XP is unsafe, or just because Win XP is unsafe.
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A bit of both. Java's got security issues by itself, and Windows XP hasn't had a security update for awhile now.

I've got an old PC lying around that is running on a C2D E6300 with 4gb of ram and it runs Windows 7 just fine. I can only imagine Win 10 is going to be ok as well if theres drivers for it. I haven't updated that thing to 10 yet.
 
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As intel_man has said, both have security issues even though java is still updated. What websites do you visit require java? I still say it's best to uninstall it until you know you need it.
 
I get that Java has liabilities itself and that XP has them itself, but what I mean is is it that the XP + Java 8 combination is somehow particularly bad? Doesn't seem to me to be the case from what they say in that FAQ, seems like they are just saying Microsoft doesn't support XP any more so XP has liabilities, so nothing to do with java, nothing to do with having java 8 on XP, just XP's own liabilities.

Regarding what websites I visit that require java, I can't remember, but I get the "need java enabled" with some frequency. I think its not any site I visit regularly, but one off sites, but it happens fairly frequently.
 
Since XP is no longer updated, Oracle(maker of java) can't guarantee that you won't get hacked used an exploit due to XP not being updated anymore. It's in your best interest to get off XP ASAP.
 
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