Minecraft Forums

OSX Minecrafters have long had problems launching the game smoothly, but those days are numbered! Today, Dinnerbone announced a new test launcher for Mac users, and it's ready to try out! While still very much in the testing phase, it's a huge step towards bringing OSX Minecraft in line with the Windows launcher, making it easier for everyone.

As expected, there are many questions already:

Dinnerbone:

Do I need Java installed?

No.

I use Windows. What should I do?

Go be happy. You already have this! What, you're not using it already? Don't be silly, go grab the .msi from https://minecraft.net/download

I use Linux. What should I do?

We don't have a native launcher for you (at least, right now). But be happy anyway! *hugs* <3

Do I need Java 6 installed?

No.

I installed it and it says "stage". What does that mean?

It's just because it's a testing build. Don't mind that You're getting super awesome early peek at stuff that isn't ready yet! And this way it won't clash with the launcher you currently have, not the one that we will fully release later.

Will this fix boats?

Not likely, sorry. Soooooon!

Do I need to have Java already?

No.

It's redownloading itself. Why is that?

We probably pushed out an update to test something new or fix a bug. When we do this, it needs to self-update. Don't worry about it! This will happen much less frequently after we're done testing. We also need to test that the self-updating works, so you should expect to see this happen a few times.

It's a bit slow.

This is a development build, with super speedy caching turned off. It'll be much, much faster when we release it.

Which version of Java do I need?

None. It will use its own version of Java 8, but you don't need to worry about that.

When you are ready to try out the launcher, just click the link below, and see how it feels! If you want to submit feedback, there is an active Reddit thread where suggestions/bug reports/concerns can go.

Get the launcher right here