In a move that could mean serious competition for Oracle in the Java niche, Microsoft is previewing its own build of OpenJDK. The Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is a long-term support (LTS) distribution. It is open source and available for free for anyone to deploy anywhere. It includes binaries for Java 11, based on OpenJDK 11.0.10+9, on x64 server and desktop environments on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
The company said its binaries for Java 11 have passed the Java Technical Compatibility Kit (TCK) for Java 11. Microsoft Build of OpenJDK is a simple drop-in replacement for any other OpenJDK distribution in the Java ecosystem. The company pledges to support Java 11 until at least 2024.
Microsoft currently deploys more than 500,000 Java Virtual Machines internally for back-end microservices, big data systems, etc. More than 140,000 of these JVMs are already based on the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK. Later this year, the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK will become the default distribution for Java 11 across Azure-managed services.
You can find out more and download Microsoft Build of OpenJDK from the company’s website. Microsoft points out that the binaries include backported fixes and enhancements considered important.
