The scheduled quarterly security updates for Java 8 will no longer support Windows XP, as Oracle follows Microsoft's policy. In an FAQ on the Java site the company states that Microsoft's end of support for Windows XP is the reason for Oracle's decision to end support in its latest Java 8 software. However, users may still run Java 7 at their own risk.

Oracle makes the same recommendation Microsoft does -- users running Java on Windows, should update to Windows 7 of higher.

For now, Oracle will keep Java users on Windows XP secure by updating them to the most recent Java 7 security update on an ongoing basis.

But since Java has been a major source of real-world security threats over the last few years, using the latest Java 8 would offer users more protection than Java 7.