Java SE 6 Update 14 Release Notes. - Oracle
: Support was added for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2 .
: The update included enhancements to the parallel compacting collector to increase overall application throughput. Stability and Platform Support J2Se 6 Update 14
: The -XX:+UseCompressedOops option was introduced to improve the performance of 64-bit JREs on heaps smaller than 32GB. It allows 64-bit JVMs to use 32-bit references, reducing memory footprint and improving cache efficiency.
: Update 14 marked the first time the G1 collector was available to the public. It was designed to replace the Concurrent Mark-Sweep (CMS) collector, offering better predictability and reduced heap fragmentation through incremental compaction. Java SE 6 Update 14 Release Notes
: This feature, which helps identify installed software on a system for support purposes, was extended to the Windows platform (having already been available on Solaris and Linux). Why It Mattered
, released by Sun Microsystems on May 29, 2009, was a landmark update that introduced several highly anticipated performance features and significant JVM improvements. Key Highlights and Performance Features It was designed to replace the Concurrent Mark-Sweep
Update 14 was essentially a "feature backport" release. By including G1 and compressed pointers, Sun gave developers a preview of the performance gains coming in Java 7 while maintaining the stable environment of Java 6.