NetBeans 6.8 has been released and is now available for download. Looking at the release notes, this release has improved support for Java EE 6 and GlassFish v3, JavaFX v1.2.1, Java Server Faces 2.0 and Project Kenai.

There's a detailed look at what's new on the Netbeans 6.8 - New and Noteworthy page.

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Just to follow-up on the inclusion of closures in JDK 7. Mark Reinhold has posted a Q&A in response to the reaction to his announcement at Devoxx '09. He's also now heading Project Lambda which is looking to bring together a closure proposal and prototype as a basis to create a JSR for JDK 7.

There's already a starting proposal on the site and a mailing list has been set up if you want to follow or participate in the discussions.

Apple have released Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 1 (or if you're like me and not on Snow Leopard yet, the release is Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6). It's a security update that addresses the vulnerability fixes released in Java 6 Update 17.

The update will come through the software updater or can be downloaded from the Apple downloads page.

Another interesting piece of news for JDK 7 can be found on Joe Darcy's blog this week. As announced at the Devoxx '09 conference, the release of JDK 7 has been pushed back to late 2010 and this has given another one of the Project Coin proposals a shot at being included.

Joining the ranks of the other seven changes accepted could be improved exception handling. I've always had a soft spot for this proposal as I like the simplification of being able to write one catch clause for multiple exception types. Hopefully after reconsideration it makes it in.