Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Microsoft’s Java build turns GA

news
May 27, 20212 mins

After an April preview, Microsoft Build for OpenJDK is now generally available for production deployment.

The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is now generally available, providing a no-cost distribution of open source Java that could vie with Oracle’s Java distributions for the hearts and minds of enterprise software developers.

Released May 25 after being in a preview phase since April, Microsoft Build of OpenJDK includes binaries for Java 11, based on OpenJDK 11.0.11+9 server and desktop environments on MacOS, Windows, and Linux. OpenJDK 11 releases of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK are long-term support (LTS) releases and will be updated quarterly. Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is downloadable from microsoft.com.

Microsoft Build of OpenJDK binaries might contain fixes and enhancements or backported fixes and enhancements deemed important to customers and internal users but that have not been incorporated in the upstream OpenJDK project. These fixes and enhancements will be signposted in release notes with source code available.

With general availability, Microsoft also is releasing Microsoft Build of OpenJDK Docker images and corresponding Docker files. These are intended to be used by any Java applications or Java application components. And the company is publishing an Early Access binary of Microsoft Build of OpenJDK for Java 16 for Linux and Windows on ARM. 

Microsoft has announced a new Java Development with Microsoft documentation hub, providing resources to learn how to develop Java applications and services with Microsoft technologies. Resources are available on topics such as developing with Java in the Visual Studio Code editor and Java deployment on Azure.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

More from this author