The JDK installations do not allow multiple micro versions of the JRE or JDK to be installed on a target machine. We should have registry keys that allow backward compatibility and ensure multiple dot dot release are visible in the registry settings.

The structure I propose is : (this is example between 1.1 and 1.2, this could well be between 1.2 and 1.3...)

HKLM\JavaSoft\Java Development Kit\
CurrentVersion = "1.2"
1.1 CurrentMicroVersion = "1.1.7B"
MicroVersion = "7B"
JavaHome = c:\jdk1.1.7
1.1.6 MicroVersion = "6"
JavaHome = c:\jdk1.1.6
1.1.7A MicroVersion = "7A"
JavaHome = c:\jdk1.1.7a
1.1.7B MicroVersion = "7B"
JavaHome = c:\jdk1.1.7B
1.2 CurrentMicroVersion = "1.2.1"
MicroVersion = "1"
JavaHome = c:\jdk1.2.1
RuntTimeLib = "...\jvm.dll"
1.2.0 MicroVersion = "1.2.0"
JavaHome = "c:\jdk1.2
RunTimeLib = "...\jvm.dll"
1.2.1 MicroVersion = "1.2.1"
JavaHome = "c:\jdk1.2.1"
RunTimeLib = "...\jvm.dll"

I propose that this change be implemented for a major release.