Software update: J2SE 1.4.2 beta

Beta version 1.4.2 was recently released of the standard edition of Java. In this release, Intel’s Itanium is supported. Below is a summary of the changelog, for more details you can here justly:

• Bug Fixes
  As the second maintenance release to J2SE 1.4.0, about 2100 bug fixes were integrated into J2SE 1.4.2 Beta. Additionally, changes and improvements have been made in the following areas:
  • Installer
  • Virtual Machine
  • Networking
  • I/O and New I/O
  • Internationalization
  • JAXP
  • Security
  • CORBA, Java IDL, and Java RMI-IIOP
  • Java Naming and Directory InterfaceTM API
  • Java Sound Technology
  • Java 2DTM Technology
  • Input Methods
  • AWT
  • Swing (Including new XP look and feel)
  • Startup Time Improvements
  • Applets
  • Java Plug-in Technology
  • Java Web Start 1.4.2
  • Java Platform Debugger Architecture
  • Java Virtual Machine Profiler Interface
  • Java Compiler (javac)
  • Javadoc Tool
• 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 processors
  With J2SE 1.4.2 Beta, Itanium 2 IA-64 processors are now fully supported. A new server JIT compiler is available (in addition to the interpreter offered with J2SE 1.4.1)
  • Java Plugin

  Some Java Plug-in features worth noting in this release are the following:

  • The Active X Bridge has been reimplemented in this release.
  • A single Java Plug-in Control Panel now handles all version of installed Java Plug-ins.
• Java Web Start 1.4.2
  The following enhancements (RFEs) have been implemented in this release:
  • Every time JAWS is run, it automatically detects all “registered” JREs on the computer.
  • There is now a combined control panel infrastructure used for the Java deployment products, including Java Plug-in and Web Start
  • you can now directly open JNLP URLs from the JAWS Application Manager; these can be bookmarked. Moreover, they may be .html or .jnlp files.
  • Java Web Start now dynamically imports certificates in much the same way as browsers do, making use of https much easier for users.