IBM Java

A Java runtime and development system made by IBM from their own codebase that is fully compatible with but generally considerably faster than the original Sun Microsystems code. 1.1x versions were available as a free download for users of OS/2 Warp or higher, but the later 1.3x versions were only available as a restricted feature. The last IBM Java runtime and development environment that runs natively on OS/2 is version 1.3.1 SR9.

If you have old Java code that needs to be supported, or just like testing out old apps you find on the net, it can be a good idea to keep an old IBM Java implementation on your system alongside newer versions, especially 1.1.8 with all fixes. Normally Java is fairly backwards compatible but with the introduction of Java 1.3 a few minor changes were made that broke backward compatibility, these are easy to fix if you know how and have the source but since neither of these can be assumed and as 1.1.8 can coexist with newer versions you might just as well keep an 1.1.8 installation on your drive for problematic programs.

Versions

IBM Java for OS/2

• 1.0 beta 1 (Jan 1996) - IBM OS/2 Java Developer's Kit
• 1.0 (Sep 1996)
• 1.0.1 (Oct 1996) - included in OS/2 Warp Version 4
• 1.0.2 (Apr 1997) - Software Choice catalog - IBM: /software/java_os2/os2/javaos2.zip

Runtime updates included in Netscape 2.02 (SR8 - 1998)

• IBM OS/2 Warp Developer Kit, Java Technology Edition
• IBM OS/2 Warp Developer Kit, Java 2 Technology Edition

Links

• IBM's OS/2 Java Progress
• IBM: /ps/products/os2/fixes/java111/ - Release 1.1.1 Fixes
• Unofficial Java on OS/2 pages - Seriously outdated but still some useful info on installing and using the older IBM Java V1.1