At runtime, when you launch an Adobe application, you are prompted to install Java if it is not already installed. Or it can be installed later before you install Adobe applications. Adobe and Apple have worked together to ensure that you can install Java at OS install time. Since current Adobe installers and applications were built before these changes by Apple, Adobe software anticipates that Java is installed. It is now an optional install that you must select. Apple recently changed the way it includes Java in Mac OS, and with Lion, Java is no longer preinstalled.
Many Adobe applications depend on the Oracle Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for some features to work.
