Apple dumps Java

The programming geniuses who gave you the ultra-secure iOS and Apple maps have decided that Apple users can do without Java because it is insecure.

Apple is culling old versions of Oracle's Java software from internet browsers on the computers of its customers when they install the latest update to its Mac operating system.

Cupertino decided that if people want Java they will have to get it directly from Oracle and it wants to have nothing to do with it any more.

Apple is not saying why, but the decision is similar to the attempt by Steve Jobs to remove the popular Adobe Flash because he claimed it caused his machines to break.

In many ways Java is an even bigger target in that it is widely used on the internet so web developers can make their sites accessible from multiple browsers running on Macs or Windows PCs.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the move has been on on the drawing board for more than two years.

What brought the matter to a head was a discovery so bad that some security experts warned computer users to only use Java on an as-needed basis.

Adam Gowdiak, a researcher with Polish security firm Security Explorations, said removing Java from Mac browsers reduces the risks of an attack.