Java Runtime Updates

[dfisher1]

I currently have Java Runtime Environment 5 on my PC and have installed new versions (4 & 10) previously. Today I installed the latest version (11) on my system which went according to plan.

I then went into Add/Remove Programs and to my surprise found that versions 4 & 10 were still there along with the one I'd just installed (11).

I always thought updates were cumulative in that the latest update encompasses the ones that came before it (so v11 should have 10 older ones within it). Much like when installing my Nvidia drivers, the old version is automatically uninstalled and the new one is installed on the system, leaving you with just the one update on the system.

I had assumed that when installing version 11 of Runtime, versions 4 & 10 would be removed, however they are still there taking up 120MB a piece.

So my question is, can I remove versions 4 & 10 whilst leaving version 11 unaffected or to they all depend on each other?

Thanks in advance.

[directhex]

it's up to the application installer to gracefully deal with upgrades. obviously java doesn't

personally i'd remove the lot, and download java 6 - it's a fair bit faster than 5

[alexkoon]

They are all independent (if you get directory sizes, they should be of similar size). If you are happy with th latest and greatest, then remove it - the 04 revision is pretty old by now (assuming you mean 1.5.04).

On windows in a command prompt when you type "java -version" it should show you the system level version of java. Basically this runs java.exe under the windows directory which goes to the registry and looks up the configured version of java and where is location is before starting it up.

[Funkstar]

This is good to know. It's something i've wondered in the past.