Like so many other Java developers enjoying a Macintosh as their primary computer, I installed the new Mac OS X v10.5 a.k.a Leopard this morning. No matter if you got it at the store last night, delivered by FedEx, or via download as part of your ADC subscription, the official Gold Master release (9A581) does not contain the long awaited Java 6 Runtime.

Apple updated the Java version in OS X v10.5 from 1.5.0_07 to 1.5.0_13 but Java 6 is nowhere to be found in Leopard nor anywhere on Apple's website. Previously available Java 1.6 developer preview releases also have been removed and don't seem to be available at this time.
The hypothetical question 'What would you do, if Java 6 on Mac OS X would never be ?' that I had asked just a couple days ago, seems to have turned into a much more actual one today.

Given that Apple has not released any time frame for when to expect Java 6 on OS X, as a Java developer, I have to ask myself at what point developing on Mac becomes disadvantages. While the flawlessly working beautiful machines with their secure Unix underpinning provide an obvious upper-hand over Java Developers on Windows boxes, having to work with a Java Development Kit and Runtime that is now years behind of what's available on Windows, Linux, and Solaris becomes a real burden.
Honestly, the unavailability of Java 6 in OS X Leopard has put all of us Java Developers on a Mac, into a position that becomes a little harder to explain and to defend every day.
--
Wolf