Looking back, I do not see a diary mentioning that Java 6 was released after nearly 2 years of work in December.  Many of the updates to Java involve improved security functionality and memory leak updates.  A full list of updates is available at http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/security/enhancements.html . 

I would recommend that this update be tested in your particular enviroment to make sure that it does not break anything prior to installing.  Also, it has been observed that the Java update installer does not clean up older revisions of the product.  Any update / change control procedures need to take this into account and  remove older versions once you are satisfied that it is safe to move forward.

Thanks Robert for pointing this one out to me. Guess I get to do updates on my computers tonight while watching episodes of 24 and/or the Rose bowl.  Happy New Year all.