Sun Microsystems has dropped the mammal and marine-life code names of planned upgrades to the Java platform, renaming the Mustang and Dolphin projects JDK (Java Standard Edition Development Kit) 6 and JDK 7, respectively. “Yes, we must retire some old friends,” said Ray Gans, senior program manager at Sun, in his blog. “Management says it’s time to drop these code names and develop a new project naming system around our open source model. Better now than after Dolphin gets firmly entrenched – and as for Mustang, well it’s almost done anyway. So with some sadness, we’re walking Mustang out from her stable one last time to let her roam free in the meadows and we’re opening the gate so Dolphin can return to the sea. Code names come and go and it’s time to move on to our bright new future,” Gans said.“What has been Project Mustang on java.net will now be recast as JDK 6 (no surprise there I hope) and I’m happy to say we’re launching JDK 7 [formerly Dolphin] on java.net today,” Gans wrote on August 15. JDK 6 is targeted for a final release by the end of this year while JDK 7 has been eyed for release in the second half of 2007. Mustang, err, JDK 6, has been geared to accommodate scripting languages, Microsoft Windows Vista and Web services while JDK 7 is to feature XML improvements. Sun officials detailed Java roadmaps at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco in May, Software Development