Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 10th Oct 2012 23:47 UTC, submitted by MOS6510
"Java is a programming language that allows developers to write once and deploy everywhere - from high-end gaming desktops to smartphones. Its OS-agnostic and widespread nature is one of its strongest selling points, but one area where it can fall flat is performance. Generally, Java applications are not going to perform as well as native applications written for a specific OS. However, thanks to Project Sumatra that performance gap may soon become less of an issue."
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Member since:2005-07-08
If your talking about a vulnerability in the Java VM, then it may or may not be a cross platform vulnerability. Remember that the VM itself is a native application that has to be written to support every target platform. A bug in the just-in-time-compiler for x86 isn't necessarily going to appear in the JIT compiler for x86-64 or ARM.
At least in OpenJDK/JVM this might improve when project Graal gets integrated.
Graal is the project to integrate Maxime JIT which is 100% Java code.
The idea is to follow Jikes, Maxime and Squawk VM projects where the Java was used to write the VM, with a very minimal set of native code.
Member since:2011-01-28
moondevil,
"Graal is the project to integrate Maxime JIT which is 100% Java code."
I wasn't aware, that's very interesting. I wonder how you bootstrap such a thing. Do you need another VM to bootstrap the Maxime JIT's code?
Nice diagram for a project you mentioned:
http://labs.oracle.com/projects/squawk/squawk-rjvm.html
"Even with VM exploits it depends on which VM you are using, there are many more out there, besides Oracle's."
I'm not ready to stop calling it Sun's VM 
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
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Member since:
2011-01-28
kwan_e,
"Except with Java, isn't the vulnerability potentially cross platform? Whereas with native exploits, you'd have to write one for each different platform."
Hmm, I'm not exactly sure what you mean. If you're talking about a vulnerability in code written in java, then yes that would probably be vulnerable on every platform supporting java. However this would not be an instance of a bug in the Java VM, but rather an application specific bug.
If your talking about a vulnerability in the Java VM, then it may or may not be a cross platform vulnerability. Remember that the VM itself is a native application that has to be written to support every target platform. A bug in the just-in-time-compiler for x86 isn't necessarily going to appear in the JIT compiler for x86-64 or ARM.
For the sake of argument though, let's pretend Java contained a backdoor and there was *zero* security in the VM...this would preclude Java as a viable platform for browser applets since malicious websites could gain access to your local account using the backdoor.
Now consider an application you download to run locally, you have the choice of either a native binary or a java version. Can you see why having a backdoor in the Java VM isn't an additional security risk compared to the native version? Even with the VM backdoor, the java application would be on equal footing with the native application security-wise. Both would be subject to the same userspace access as imposed by the kernel.