We were/are stung by the new security baseline requirement with Java's release of 7u45, which caused our applet not work until the end user adjusted the security settings the java control panel (see discussion in below question)
Java applet manifest - Allow all Caller-Allowable-Codebase
If possible we'd like to put a process in place where we can proactively test new jdk releases. Oracle / Sun appears to offer a way to get notified about this.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/index-jsp-137266.html
CAP (Compatibility and Performance Program) is an early access program for Java Standard Edition (Java SE). As part of our ongoing work to assure that new releases of Java SE are compatible, robust and fast we are creating this early program designed to give key developers early access to our newest releases. This program is not open to the general public.
The above url says this is not open to the public and does not provide a way to sign up. I've been digging for a bit to find this and have so far been unsuccessful.
Thanks for any help (I'll update this if I find out more)
Regards G