According to this text you may be out-of-luck with OS X 10.5.8

It looks that they have removed support for the JP2 plugin and Firefox 4 and 5 won't run without that plugin.

• http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00115.html

With this release, we have greatly enhanced the functionality of Plugin2 on Mac OS X 10.6, but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0. We are looking forward to making Plugin2 the default applet plug-in in the near future, so please let us know if there are show stopping issues that prevent your applets from running inside it.

Our best regards,
Mike Swingler
Java Runtime Engineer
Apple Inc.

• http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00147.html

>> With this release, we have greatly enhanced the functionality of Plugin2
> on Mac OS X 10.6,
>> but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X
> 10.5, due to the lack
>> of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0.
>
> So, does this mean the security update is breaking support for Java on
> Firefox and Google Chrome with MacOS X 10.5 ?
> Regular users would certainly not understand that when reading the
> detailed information for the update...

Firefox and Chrome users are currently unsupported on PPC since the current versions of those browsers are = Intel-only. Anyone with an Intel Mac should upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to continue to receive any updates at all.

Plugin2 in it's current state was barely usable when run under J2SE 5.0 anyway, so in the end, anyone who was relying on applets on Leopard was probably already using Safari anyway.

I hope this helps clarify why we discontinued Plugin2 on 10.5,

Mike Swingler
Java Engineering
Apple Inc.

cor-el Thank you for this information; it's the first solid answer I've received. I am dismayed but not surprised that Apple discontinued Java support for FF and Chrome with Mac OSX 10.5 and their arrogance in assuming "anyone relying on applets on Leopard was probably already using Safari anyway." Although the technical argument for doing this may be valid, it comes across as just one more attempt at Apple forcing their customers to either use Safari or spend $ to update their OS. I guess I'll use Safari for now and wait until 10.7 is released....they'll probably drop support for 10.6 next year! What really ticks me off with all this is the LACK OF CLEAR COMMUNICATION WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS!!! I hope you are listening Apple!!!!!!!! P.S. Just posted a comment on the Apple support forums regarding this.

A possibility might be a second parallel installation of the last Firefox 3.6.x version.
I think that version still has support for the embedding Java plugin.
If not then you need to find an older Firefox version that does work.

See this article about how to install multiple versions on Mac OS X:

• http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-run-firefox-4-and-3-simultaneously-in-mac-os-x-with-multiple-firefox-profiles-2011-3
• Firefox 3.6.x: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-older.html

Quote:

P.S. Just posted a comment on the Apple support forums regarding this.

Can you post a link to that forum post?

Crap! This is a problem for me as well. I cant use anything with an applet no matter what updates I perform. I also have a mac with OSX 10.5.8 and Java is now not an option for me. I actually get the same problem regardless of the browser I am using though. I get the same result in FF5, Chrome, and Safari. Does this sound like the same problem to you guys?

All browsers that require the Java Plugin2 no longer have that plugin available since Java Update 10 and can thus no longer use Java on Mac OS X 10.5.8

Arrgh..... Okay that makes sense. Thanks very much cor-el. You know, the crazy thing with Mac is that you cant opt for an earlier update of Java if the newer version cause problems on some level. I called in one time about that and they told me that you'd essentially have to reinstall the operating system and then manually update only up to the level of Java you wanted manually. Does that not seem a bit non-linear to anyone else? I am a fan of Mac, don't get me wrong. I enjoy their intuitive user experience, but some stuff like this just really makes you question Mac. Can you think of any other work around that would allow a Mac OSX 10.5 user to utilitze java at all?

This is the link to my Apple forum post: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3156468

Unlike peeta, java is working in Safari, but not FF or Chrome

I have the same problem, and am also disappointed in Apple's decision.

However, I did fix the problem with Safari by choosing Reset Safari from the Safari menu. It acted the same as Firefox until I did the reset.

Thanks for posting the link.

I would assume that Safari only can stop working with Java if it is configured to use the JP2 plugin. I don't know if that is possible or that Safari comes with its own (embedding) Java plugin just like older Firefox versions did.

Here's the related bug report:

Bug 668639 - Apple's Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 breaks Java in FF 4 and up

(according to comment 7, The reason Java still works in Safari (after Update 10) is that Safari doesn't (by default) use JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.plugin. Instead it uses the WebKit-specific JavaPluginCocoa.bundle (whose soft link hasn't been deleted).

Thanks for posting that bug report Alice.

Do you think that is is necessary to add a note to the Java support article (SUMO/mozillaZine) to inform people about this issue?

If that "Java Plugin2" plugin is only compatible with OS X 10.6 then it doesn't sound like a good idea to restore that softlink.

but this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0.

cor-el... At your suggestion I'll hold off trying the workaround suggested in the bug report until the compatibility issue is addressed. Let me know if you hear anything further. Thanks, Alice!

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 includes two Java updates. Quote:

Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 delivers improved compatibility, security, and reliability by updating J2SE 5.0 to 1.5.0_30, and updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_26 for 64-bit capable Intel-based Macs.

It then links to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4592 which says, This release of J2SE 5.0 supports all Intel and PowerPC-based Macs. Java SE 6 is available on 64-bit Intel-based Macs only.

cor-el, The quote you mentioned, this came at the cost of having to remove Plugin2 from Mac OS X 10.5, due to the lack of necessary OS graphics primitives and the capabilities of J2SE 5.0. seems to refer to the Java 5.0 portion of the update, which includes PPC Mac OS 10.5 which isn't supported on Firefox 4 and above. I not sure but, best I can figure, it could be that some Intel Mac OS X 10.5 systems (those that are not 64-bit capable) got only the J2SE 5.0 update.

So, to me, that suggests that the Terminal workaround given in the bug report will work on 64-bit Intel-based Macs.
EDIT: see bug 668639 comment 13 dated 07-05-2011 (copied below).

I posted a link to the related bug report in MozillaZine's Java article, here: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Java#Java_no_longer_works_after_Java_for_Mac_OS_X_10.5_Update_10

P.S. The update to the article Using the Java Plugin with Firefox is pending discussion:

https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin%20with%20Firefox/discuss/1578

Posted by Steven Michaud today in bug 668639 comment 13:

> http://lists.apple.com/archives/java-dev/2011/Jun/msg00115.html

This message, referenced above, claims that Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 10 removes Java Plugin2. Very fortunately this isn't true.

The installer does remove the soft link to Java Plugin2 from /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/. But it doesn't remove Java Plugin2 itself (the target of the soft link), and in fact appears to update it -- JavaForMacOSX10.5Update10.pkg includes the JavaPlugin2_NPAPI.pluginbundle.

Based on the above I'll edit my previous comment.

This problem will be fixed in the next Firefox release, according to the related bug report.