In recent days new Java utilities joined the PortableApps family.
While it's great news, it did leave me a bit confused about the differences.
Only numbers 3 and 4 look pretty distinguished to me.
Can you please make a small comparison between all these utilities?
- jdkPortable (Freeware) - Java Development Kit (JDK) made portable
- jPortable (Freeware) - Java virtual machine made portable
- jPortable Browser Switch - Enable or disable jPortable's Java browser plugin
- jPortable Launcher - Run Java JARs portably
- OpenJDK Portable - Java development kit
- OpenJDK JRE Portable - Java runtime environment
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JDK = Java Development Kit - used to make Java apps and by development apps used for that purpose
JRE = Java Runtime Environment - Used to run Java apps
JDKs are much bigger and contain a JRE as well
1 and 5 are JDKs for the same purpose but 1 is the official release from Oracle and can no longer be used commercially without a $30 per seat yearly license. 5 is the fully open source GPL edition.
2 and 6 are JREs for the same purpose but are similarly split licensed like the JDKs above.
3 is deprecated as Java in the browser is dead.
4 lets you run JAR files (and jnlp files experimentally) and will use 6, 5, 2, or 1 in that order to run them.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Some follow up questions:
4 lets you run JAR files (and jnlp files experimentally) and will use 6, 5, 2, or 1 in that order to run them. It does nothing without them.
The costs are up to the end user. It's available for personal use without a license or payment.
3 will be removed in the future. Anyone that needs Java apps in the browser is already aware that they are dead.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Can one run JAR (and jnlp) files simply with 6, 5, 2 or 1?
Are the costs only for commercial usage then?
Regarding 3, what would you say Java is mainly used for nowadays?