Brian Krebs has been raising the alarm as Java JVM security holes outpaced Flash as the primary browser hacking vector. As Oracle released a major security update he pointed out that Apple typically follows with updates a number of months later, leaving the OS exposed to known exploits for long periods. Apple has now deprecated Java, and will no longer provide those updates.
This makes a lot of sense for Apple. Oracle's agressive stance against outside development of Java, the significant cost of maintaining a forked version of the JVM, the inherent insecurity of Java's design, and Java's steady retreat to 'Enterprise' only development make continuing support economically irrational.
Java developers, who found a refuge in the Mac's native Java support, are outraged and wonder if Apple has considered the loss of that market. Their arguments prove the point, they chose Mac because Apple made the considerable investment to make Java (the "platform independent" language) usable on Mac OS. Java has never been platform independent. It failed on the desktop, then failed in the browser, and has finally withdrawn to server-only applications where it's platform independence is largely irrelevant. There are no remaining markets where Java provides a competitive advantage, and it now only survives because of a large pool of mediocre developers who learned it to get a job. Apple's future is not in the hands of mediocre developers, so that community's complaints do not affect it's decisions.
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