...or at least explained; I'm not sure they can be demystified. ;-)
You'll hear people talking about Java 1.4, Java 1.5, etc., but if you go to http://java.com to download it, you'll find you're downloading something called "J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0".
"Huh? But then, what's the most recent version, 1.5 or 5.0?" you find yourself asking.
The answer is: "Yes"
Java 1.5 is the most recent version of the Java the programming language (and "virtual machine"). Previous versions were 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, etc.
But we end users aren't using the Java language, we're using the runtime environment (the "JRE"). I won't go into what a "runtime environment" consists of, but it's built on top of Java. The latest versio of the JRE is 5.0.
So the thing you're downloading, the "J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0" is built on top of Java 1.5. Which I think is pretty clear, and everyone can understand it...
"But wait, when I look at the About box in my JRE thingy, it says version 1.5.0!?"
...everyone except, apparently, the people who did the About box for the JRE. Unfortunately, if you look at the About box for your JRE, if it's up-to-date it'll say that it's Version 1.5.0. Nowhere that I can see in that about box does it say Version 5.0. I can only call this a bug; unless someone from Sun Microsystems would like to come over and show me why it isn't! (To see the About box, go into a game, then right-click the coffee cup icon in the system tray in the lower right-hand corner of the screen, and choose "Open Control Panel". Then either go to the About tab or click the About button on the General tab depending on your version.)
"Well that's okay, but hang on a sec, Teej, you've kind of skipped over that whole 'J2SE' thing. What's that?"
I kind of hoped you wouldn't ask. ;-) It stands for "Java 2 Standard Edition".
"Java 2?! But you said 1.5 was the latest!"
Yes. (Clears throat, looks shifty.) When they released Java 1.2, Sun Microsystems declared that this was the first version of Java built on the "Java 2 Platform". This despite it being Java 1.2. All versions since -- 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 -- have been part of the "Java 2 Platform." Ignore that, pretend it doesn't exist, and that the "J2" just says "Java". (The "Standard Edition" means it's for people like us to use on our desktop computers; there's also an "Enterprise Edition" (J2EE) for use on servers. We use it to run Pocket-Monkey, in fact.)
"Uh huh. Um. Okay, thanks, that, uh, that really clears things up!"
Hey, I can only report the news, not make it up. ;-)
The things to take away here are:
Java 1.5 and JRE 5.0 are the latest versions
To end users, they basically mean the same thing; it's only nerds and Sun Microsystems brand managers that care about the distinction
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