Hot on the heels of Oracle’s release of the Java 21 platform, Microsoft now is offering its own build of the open source OpenJDK 21, at no cost.
Available from learn.microsoft.com as of September 28, the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK 21 is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac. In elaborating on Oracle’s publishing of Java 21, which occurred on September 19, Microsoft said the release contains features that set it apart from previous Java versions. The company highlighted new capabilities such as simplified Java learning for beginners, with a preview of unnamed classes and instance methods, as well as unnamed patterns and variables; a preview of the Generational ZGC (Z Garbage Collector) for enhanced performance; and virtual threads for high-throughput concurrent applications.
