This page last changed on Mar 12, 2008 by smaddox.
This notice was published on January 4th, 2008. The most important thing to get out of this notice is that Nothing is changing immediately. Existing versions (and upcoming point releases) of Confluence will continue to support Java 1.4, as will the next major version of Confluence. As of writing this page, the release of Confluence 2.9 is around 4-6 months away.

What is happening?

As part of the ongoing development of Confluence, we are going to be raising our minimum supported version of the Java platform.

  • The next release of Confluence, version 2.8, will be the last major version to support Java 1.4.
  • Point-releases of the current (2.7.x) and next (2.8.x) versions of Confluence will be supported on Java 1.4.
  • Confluence 2.9 and later will require at least Java 5.

What does this mean to me?

I use Confluence

Users of Confluence websites should see absolutely no change.

I administer a Confluence server

Your current version of Confluence will continue to run in your current environment without change, as will Confluence 2.8 and all 2.8 patch releases. If you choose to upgrade to Confluence 2.9 when it is released, you will need to ensure your environment is running at least Java 5.

You can check your current JDK version in Confluence. Go to Administration -> System Information -> JVM Implementation Version. If the version is 1.5 or higher, you will not need to do anything. If the version is 1.4, you will need to upgrade your JDK before you can upgrade to Confluence 2.9. Instructions for doing so will be provided in the Confluence 2.9 release notes.

If you are running the Confluence EAR-WAR edition against your own application server, you will need to check with your application server vendor about which JDK versions are supported.

I am a Confluence plugin/extension developer

Plugin developers who want their plugins to work on Confluence 2.8 and earlier should continue to compile their plugins with the Java 1.4 compiler. Plugin developers specifically targeting Confluence 2.9 and later will be free to use the Java 5 compiler and Java 5 language features.

Why Now?

Our normal policy for JDK support is to follow Sun's Java Technology End-of-Life policy, where only the most recent three major versions of Java are supported. On Sun's original timeline for the release of Java 7, Java 1.4 would have been scheduled for EOL in (Northern Hemisphere) Spring 2008. Sun's release roadmap for Java 7 has since been pushed back to 2009, but we feel that it is in the best interests of Confluence to stick to the original schedule.

Given Java 1.4's near-obsolescence, saved only by the slipping schedule of Java 7, IT departments should already be planning to transition away from Java 1.4. Our surveys of customers suggest that most are already running Java 5, and those that don't are running application servers that can easily support the new version. As such, the cost of continuing to support the old version, both in developer and support resources, cannot really be justified.

Progress on this issue can be tracked here: CONF-10365

Document generated by Confluence on Jun 24, 2008 18:02