Oracle’s hastens release of Critical Patch Update: Java 7 update 13
I can’t live without Java yet.
There weeks ago, US-CERT suggested we disable Java in web browsers, then a week ago, Apple blocked the Java 7 web plugin.
Now Oracle has just released an updated version of Java 7 called Update 13, build number 1.7.0_13-b20 as well as an updated version of Java 6.
MacRumours reports,
“Oracle notes that the new update contains fixes for over 50 issues and that the launch was accelerated by several weeks in order to address a vulnerability that was being exploited in the wild.”
You can get the download at the Oracle site here:
Thanks to Laurence Gwee for the article forward.
Otterman speaks... 
Now that Oracle has taken over development of Java for OS X, updates will now be current and regular, if not fast tracked.
Apple used to develop Java for the Mac, but they were always one generation behind industry standards. Late CEO Steve Jobs lamented that it wasn’t the best way to go and Oracle has since taken over development of the platform after acquiring Sun Microsystems, the original developer for Java and its derivatives.
As a primer on things going forward, the current co-CEO of Oracle, Mark Hurd, was the ex-CEO of HP, until its board of directors fired him for sexual harassment. While at HP, Hurd turned the company around after suffering from a string of failed CEOs.
Oracle President and close friend, Larry Ellison said that HP’s board had made ‘the worst personnel decision’ while Steve Jobs offered to speak to HP’s board ‘one by one’.*
Having Hurd at the helm at Oracle, should further strengthen confidence not only in the company but also in the effective development of the platform.
* “Can Meg Whitman Reverse Hewlett-Packard’s Free Fall?” Bloomberg, January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013. http://goo.gl/ePskK