What is happening with Java these days? I have had it disabled for a long time because there was a problem running it with Firefox. I now use Chrome. Is it safe to download Java at this point?
There was a GOTD game using Java a while back. In the discussion re: whether Java was good, bad, or neutral, I took to Google, motivated because someone disagreed with WR. I wanted to explain that because I no longer have any of the links, but the info is out there if you want to double check.
What I found was that the BIG problem with Java is people running outdated versions, plus the way some browser plug-ins were written was very much outdated as well. It wasn't Java that was banned or blocked, but the architecture the plug-ins used. Microsoft is blocking the old active X controls, Chrome is blocking the old api used by/with Java, & Firefox has has it disabled by default for ages.
As far as installing - not installing Java, it's something you have to defend from attacks, same as Flash, Adobe Reader, ie, Firefox, Chrome etc. If you don't need, don't use it, don't have it there in Windows -- why have an extra door that needs locked? If you do have it, keep it up to date so hopefully it'll stay locked. Recent reports out of major companies like Dell, Verizon, Microsoft etc. all agree that the majority of systems breached or compromised over the last couple few years all had unpatched vulnerabilities -- the patches were readily available, but no one bothered.