Thanks to a reader for pointing out that a planned update to Sun's Java platform, at least on Windows, will address the "old version" problem. As I blogged recently, the current Java versions leave all the old updates in place when you install a new one. Just this morning, while visiting my mother-in-law I uninstalled about a dozen old Java updates.

Scheduled for release this summer or fall, Java 6 Update 10 (the current version is Update 7; I'm not sure "10" is really going to be the number) will address the problem, at least partly. According to Sun:

For current users of Java SE, the JRE update mechanism has also been improved, using a patch-in-place mechanism that translates in a faster and more reliable update process (the patch in place mechanism will take effect for end users who upgrade from this update release or later to a new update release). As an added benefit, follow-on update releases will no longer be listed as separate items in the Windows "Add or Remove Programs" dialog.

Read the rest of this article on eWEEK.com.