Close on the heels of Oracle's earlier-this-week fix for Java, Apple recently released Java for OS X 2012-006 1.0 update, which essentially does away with the company's Java applet plug-in from all Mac web browsers, including Apple's own Safari browser.

The latest OS X Java update released by Apple automatically uninstalls the Java applet plug-in from the web browsers; with the result that users who wish to have their browsers run the Java applet will now have to download an applet straight from Oracle.

According to Apple's Java for OS X 2012-006 advisory, the latest update by the company is essentially for OS X versions 10.7 or later; and it upgrades the Apple-provided system Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_37.

The advisory further said that the update "uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers," and added: "To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled "Missing plug-in" to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle."

With security experts largely of the opinion that Apple's decision to drop Java from the Mac web browsers is a prudent move as it will help curb a lot of malicious downloads, Paul Ducklin - the chief of technology for Sophos in the Asia-Pacific - said that the update released by Apple encompasses all the web browsers which lack their own Java plug-in and depend on the Apple's Java applet plug-in.