http://www.cultofmac.com/steve-jobs-explains-was-java-was-de...
"Java runtime at the same level, and it may even be removed from future versions of Mac OS X."
http://www.cultofmac.com/steve-jobs-explains-was-java-was-de...
"Java runtime at the same level, and it may even be removed from future versions of Mac OS X."
So, it's not really deprecated anymore. In fact, Java was updated a few times during the beta process.
Straight from the horse's mouth:
As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the Java runtime ported by Apple and that ships with Mac OS X is deprecated. Developers should not rely on the Apple-supplied Java runtime being present in future versions of Mac OS X.
The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products.
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#releasenotes/Java/Ja...
At any rate, this is still not a reversal of any stance. Apple never said it would not ship a Java runtime for Lion (and iirc it has been this way in Lion for a long time), and it still isn't recommended that developers depend on this.
Even our Apple rep said it was deprecated and he sure as heck doesn't read Developer notes, so I'd have to assume he got the news through some other chain at Apple.
Perhaps other orgs were protesting as loudly as our org was.