Over the past few days, there has been a strong rumor that Oracle is preparing to end Java for Windows XP, offering yet another reason for users remaining on that platform to consider upgrading in the near future.
The company, however, issued a statement denying the reports and pointing out that Java will not only continue to work on Windows XP, but will also continue to receive security updates.
"We expect that all versions of Java that were supported prior to Microsoft's end-of-support announcement [for XP] will continue to be compatible with Windows XP for the foreseeable future. Specifically, we expect that JDK 7 will continue to work with Windows XP," Oracle explained.
"Security updates issued by Oracle will continue to be offered to computers running Windows XP. Users who download JDK 7 from java.oracle.com or java.com will continue to be able to install it on Windows XP."
Java 7 will continue to receive updates for Windows XP until April 2015. If usage of the operating system remains high until then, Oracle has a backup plan, but it is not yet ready to reveal it.
"There are several options available to us, should this become necessary," the company points out, explaining that Windows XP users running Java will not be left unprotected after its support ends.
