Oracle Account????

[Carol Murphy]

I decided to install the JDK on my son's Vista system, since I'm fooling around with networking basics, and want to run programs that are on another system on this one. When I tried to download the JDK, I was prompted to create an Oracle account. I find myself strangely reluctant to do this. Is there any alternative, or do I just have to suck it up and sign on? Why did Sun go over to the dark side?

[Jaikiran Pai]

I think you might have tried downloading an outdated version which is now only available for registered (paid?) customers who are entitled for support. You can download the latest Java versions for free from the Oracle site. Which version were you trying to download and do you have a link to the page you used?

[Carol Murphy]

Here is the link from the Cattle Drive Preparation page: Cattle Drive It is for the Jave SE Development Kit 6. That link leads to version 6u21, which I figured would be okay. I will try the latest version. Perhaps the Cattle Drive Preparation page link should be updated, as I am probably not the only person in the world who doesn't want Larry Ellison to know where I live!

[Jesper de Jong]

You can download the latest version (JDK 7) without registration, but for older versions you have to register. You can still download the older versions for free. Oracle does this on purpose, to discourage people to use the older versions. You should use an older version only if you have a special reason (for example, companies often settle on a specific version for their software, and they don't immediately upgrade when a new version comes out - so sometimes you need the older JDK to compile code which must run on the company's servers). It's best to use the latest version, because it has the most recent security updates and bug fixes.

I don't think the registration requires you to tell Oracle where you live or tell them other personal details besides your e-mail address.

[Carol Murphy]

Still, I feel like I'm inviting the devil into my home. Or computer. I'm superstitious like that!

[Riley Redd]

You should not have to create an account or anything like that.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk7-downloads-1880260.html

This link contains all the JavaTM Platform, Standard Edition Development Kit downloads.

(just click the bubble next to 'Accept License Agreement' and you are good to download the jdk for your OS, which should be:

Linux x86
Linux x86
Linux x64
Linux x64
Mac OS X x64
Solaris x86
Solaris x86
Solaris x64
Solaris x64
Solaris SPARC
Solaris SPARC
Solaris SPARC 64-bit
Solaris SPARC 64-bit
Windows x86 <----One of these.
Windows x64 <----One of these.



If you need to set your system variables for java (which would come after installing it)

These variables will be something like:
(note: these might [or might not] be different for you. Also this is for 64-bit OS, 32-bit will most certainly be different)
C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin <-- For the Java Runtime Enviroment
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_25\bin <-- For the Java Development Kit

For Windows Vista

1.Right click My Computer icon
2.Choose Properties from the context menu
3.Click Advanced tab (Advanced system settings link in Vista)
4.In the Edit windows, modify PATH by adding the location of the class to the value for PATH. If you do not have the item PATH, you may select to add a new variable and add PATH as the name and the location of the class as the value.
5.Reopen Command prompt window, and run your java code.

(I now see that you have over 1000 posts, so you probably know the last part ^.^' //Still... better safe than sorry. )

[Jesper de Jong]

Riley Redd wrote:You should not have to create an account or anything like that.

As we discussed above, yes, that's true if you want to download JDK 7, but if you want to download JDK 6 or older you have to create an account.

[Jaikiran Pai]

Carol Murphy wrote:Here is the link from the Cattle Drive Preparation page: Cattle Drive It is for the Jave SE Development Kit 6. That link leads to version 6u21, which I figured would be okay. I will try the latest version. Perhaps the Cattle Drive Preparation page link should be updated,

I think the Cattle Drive needs to be updated since JDK 6 supplied by Oracle has reached end of life http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/eol-135779.html and like you see, now needs a registration for download, unlike the latest version.

[Carol Murphy]

Riley Redd wrote:You should not have to create an account or anything like that.


Windows x86 <----One of these.
Windows x64 <----One of these.

My system is running Vista, and the OS is 32-bit. I'll have to look at the specs to see which one I want. It used to be more obvious, back in the good old days! Too many choices.

(I now see that you have over 1000 posts, so you probably know the last part ^.^' //Still... better safe than sorry. )

Mucking around in system variables always gives me anxiety attacks. And I do this so rarely that I've usually forgotten how to do it, so I have to go back and re-figure it out. Thanks for your post!

[Carol Murphy]

Okay, I'm in! I set up the jdk and ran the HelloWorld program, and after some weird tweaking, got it to work. (Had to go into admin mode and give myself permission to save files to the Java folder, that was uncharted territory, but I navigated it fairly painlessly. Now I need a drink! My palms are sweating and my hands are all shaky.)