Keep Oracle’s Java 8 and IE mode
Oracle’s Java 8, its plug-in and IE mode stay on every desktop. Commercial updates need an Oracle subscription, the plug-in may be removed at any time, and Microsoft supports IE mode through at least the end of 2029.
Finish your OpenJDK migration, desktops included
OpenJDK distributions such as Temurin, Zulu and Corretto replace Oracle’s JDK, but not the Java plug-in or Java Web Start. CheerpJ runs applets, Java Web Start and IE mode applications in a modern browser, alongside your distribution, so your migration can finish with no Oracle Java on any desktop.
Why the desktops are the hard part
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OpenJDK has no plug-in, and no built-in Web Start
Oracle removed the plug-in and Java Web Start from Java 11 and never released their code as open source, so no OpenJDK build includes them. Web Start applications can run on OpenJDK through a separate open-source launcher, which some vendors bundle or support and others leave out. Applets have almost no support: most vendors don’t offer it, and the launchers don’t run them.
Sources: Oracle, Java SE support roadmap · OpenWebStart FAQ
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Servers move in a weekend, desktops in months
Desktops with applets and Java Web Start take weeks or months. Redress Compliance puts desktop applications at 3 to 8% of a typical estate, and calls desktop Java “the only consistently painful category”.
Source: Redress Compliance, Oracle Java application compatibility testing
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One computer can bring the whole organisation into scope
In Azul’s State of Java 2026 survey, 21% of respondents had already been audited by Oracle, and 81% had migrated, were migrating or planned to migrate at least part of their Java estate to another distribution.
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Oracle Java is priced per employee
Since January 2023, Oracle has sold Java SE through the Java SE Universal Subscription, which counts every employee, contractor and consultant, whether or not they use Java. Oracle’s October 2026 price list lowers the entry tiers for small organisations, but the count is still every employee.
The usual options for applets and Java Web Start
Stay on Java 8u202
The last free update, from January 2019, leaves an unpatched Java runtime on every desktop, with its known vulnerabilities open.
IcedTea-Web or OpenWebStart
Open-source reimplementations of Java Web Start, with an OpenJDK 8 runtime and a launcher on each desktop. They don’t run applets, and they are not a drop-in replacement.
Legacy support from Azul
A paid support tier for applets and IcedTea-Web. Azul’s Java runtime is still one to package and patch on every desktop.
A Citrix or remote desktop
Nothing runs locally, but a remote desktop published for one application brings servers, licences and latency.
Rewrite the application
Nothing stays on the desktop, but a rewrite needs the source code and often takes years.
Two ways to run your applications with CheerpJ
CheerpJ is a Java runtime built from OpenJDK and compiled to WebAssembly. It runs inside the browser tab, so applets, Java Web Start applications and applications kept in IE mode run unmodified in Chrome and Edge, with no Java installed on the computer.
Alongside your distribution
Your OpenJDK distribution keeps running your servers, build systems and developer workstations. CheerpJ takes the applications that depend on the plug-in, Java Web Start or IE mode, so together they leave your desktops with no Oracle Java.
Oracle Forms and E-Business Suite
CheerpJ has been tested extensively on Oracle Forms and Oracle E-Business Suite, and runs their Java clients in modern browsers with your Oracle servers left as they are. See Oracle Forms and Oracle EBS in the browser.
Start with one application
Test a real task on the application people would miss most. Technical evaluation is unlimited and needs no registration, and IE mode and the existing Java can stay in place until the replacement is proven.
For your security review
Java runs in the browser tab
CheerpJ runs inside the browser tab, so applications run with no Java installed on the computer and no IE mode.
Your network controls
Applications reach their back-end services over your network, governed by the browser’s security policies and your own network controls. Direct database access goes through a Tailscale VPN you can host yourself.
Hosted inside your network
On your own web servers, the runtime and the application’s files sit on a server inside your network, and CheerpJ is updated centrally.
Oracle Java leaves staff computers
With nothing to install, package or patch on staff computers, desktop administrators can remove Oracle’s JDK and turn IE mode off.
Removing desktop Java with CheerpJ
Global financial institution Case study
2 months for a project projected to take two years
A global financial institution wanted the internal users of its configuration management database, a Java applet, to stop needing Java installed on their desktops. With CheerpJ hosted on its own server, the applet runs in Chrome and Edge without a local Java installation.
Get started
Talk to us
Tell us which Java applications are still on your desktops and how they launch, and we’ll help you plan the desktop part of your migration.
Talk to usTry the extensions
The CheerpJ browser extensions let you try your applications in Chrome or Edge.
Get the browser extensions