On October 14th, Oracle plans to release the regularly scheduled Critical Patch Update (CPU) release for Oracle Java SE.  

For Oracle Java SE 8, that is version 8u25.  We now encourage all Java users to download and use the latest Java SE 8 update release.  With this release, Java SE 8 is ready to debut as the default on Java.com, and as we’ve previously noted we will begin auto updating users to Java SE 8 in early 2015. 

For Oracle Java SE 7, there will be two releases targeting different audiences:

  • Oracle Java SE 7u71 is the regular CPU containing only security fixes.  This is the intended upgrade for most users. 
  • A separate Oracle Java SE 7u72 is available for developers and users requiring additional non-security improvements or for testing updated features.  You should use 7u72 if you are facing any of the specific issues as noted in its release notes, and also as part of your quality assurance cycles.  These improvements and features are planned to appear as part of the next scheduled CPU in January 2015.

For more details, please see the OTN Article “Java CPU and PSU Releases Explained“. 

 – Don