As announced by Oracle in March 2018, Java 11 brought a few changes developers have to deal with since its release in September 2018. One of them was the removal of JWS from Java Development Kit and (with it associated) ending support of Java 8. Those are highly relevant for desktop development and might cause a few problems for JWS users as it will no longer be possible to use applications based on Java Web Start with the latest version of Java.

What about the extended support?

Oracle announced the extended support for Java SE 8 Web Start applications in the same Java Client Roadmap Update, however it’s not as conclusive as it might seem. The continuing support is for non-corporate and non-commercial use, and only till the end of 2020. Those, who were using products that have a Web Start dependency for commercial purposes, need to pay for support for version Java SE 8 and the support will be extended until 2025.

The easiest solution?

As the latest version of Java and the versions beyond do not and will not include Web Start, companies will no longer get updates and support concerning the security. They should look for new solutions as soon as possible. One of the easiest and the most effective ones available on the market is Webswing.

Webswing is a web server, that allows you to run an old desktop app on the web, without changing a single line of source code — read more about the solution at webswing.org