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.

It sounds to me from that description that current old versions will still be there, but going forward new versions will overwrite the most recent one instead of leaving it in place and installing a new one.

As I said, timing cues in the docs are a little confusing; Can it really be three updates from now (Java 6 Update 7 is very recent), yet still come out this fall? The sooner the better if you ask me.