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I wish to run a small utility ("Nightly Updater", NU) for a game called Simutrans.

NU comes in the form of a .jar file and the only system requirement for NU is Java 9.

I have Java 8 installed in my system (which it seems that I need to keep in order for other, older programs to run).

It seems that Java 9 is no longer available, but I assume that Java 12 will have backwards compatibility with Java 9 programs.

That Java 12 installation page is telling me to download a "Development Kit" that uses almost half a gigabyte of disk space, but I don't want an IDE or any other development tools so this seems to be inappropriate. I would like to download just enough to run NU as a user in Windows 7 (preferably in a user, not administrator, account) and no more.

What is the minimal Java installation necessary to run NU? Where do I find it, please?

I am using 64-bit Windows 7.

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    Please make sure you're on the right Java download page. Go to Java.com and just follow the instructions to install the latest version of the JRE (Java Runtime Environment).
    – music2myear
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:05
  • Thank you for this suggestion. But Java.com (java.com/en/download/windows-64bit.jsp) says that I should download Java 8 u211, which I already have. NU requires Java 9.
    – Matthew
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:18
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    @music2myear JRE is no longer available as a separate download with new versions of Java.
    – Jason
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:21
  • That makes sense. So, Java 8 is the last version with the JRE released independently. Java 9 and later are supposed to only be useful to devs and so are only packaged for devs, as the JDK, and the expectation is the devs will package the necessary java bits in their deployments.
    – music2myear
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:23
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    I have no experience with them, but SAP has a fork of OpenJDK that includes JRE releases of current versions. github.com/SAP/SapMachine/releases
    – Jason
    Apr 30, 2019 at 17:04

1 Answer 1

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Traditionally, you would want the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), but this is no longer available separately with current versions of Java. Why? Oracle now expects all developers to include a Java runtime with Java-based applications. If the developer didn't do this, you are now forced to install the JDK.

There's also ways of running a Java applet without any Java installed. For example, if you download the JDK and extract only appletviewer.exe and jli.dll, you can use these to run most applets "portably". This was also discontinued with Java 9.

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  • Thank you. The Java 12 JDK includes the second file (C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-12.0.1\bin\jli.dll). But I can't find the first file, appletviewer.exe (or any Java files named *view*).
    – Matthew
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:32
  • The Java 9 documentation for appletviewer says that "Although available and supported in JDK 9, the Applet API is marked as deprecated in preparation for removal in a future release." Does anyone know a way to replicate this functionality in Java 12, please?
    – Matthew
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:40
  • @Matthew You're right, I don't see it in Java 11 either (the current LTS release). I updated my answer.
    – Jason
    Apr 30, 2019 at 16:57
  • @Matthew - It was removed. There would be copyright issues if somebody were to include it more than likely.
    – Ramhound
    Apr 30, 2019 at 17:15
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    @Matthew: Java Applets are officially deprecated since January, 2016. But it was clear as far as back as 2006 that Java Applets should no longer be used. There's nothing you can do other than complain to the authors of Nightly Updater for building upon technologies that should have died 10 years ago.
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Apr 30, 2019 at 19:25

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