Do I need Java?

Well. There is Java and there is Java

Java #1 = Coffee

There is no life before Coffee
So yes you need Coffee.

Java #2 is a compuer thing and some web pages reqauire it.. most do not.

disable it and only enable it if you are certain you need it for a certain app.

Totally agree to delete it. If a website or application needs it you can re-install it.

I Completely removed Java over two years ago and haven't had a need for it since.

Don't miss it... Don't want it...

I have Flash is blocked as well.

Delete it. It's the second most targeted 3rd party software by malware writers (Flash Player is #1). It's not worth the security risks. Very, very few sites use it because they all have to be comparable on iOS and Android, neither of which have good Java support.

You can always reinstall it if you find you do need it, but I'll bet you won't miss it. I've haven't had Java on my personal machines for several years. We also pulled Java off of our machines at work. Out of over 1000 PCs, we've only found a few special cases where Java was needed. And those are business specific web sites and applications.

All that said, get rid of Adobe Acrobat reader and replace it with something like PDF-Xchange Viewer. And try getting rid of Flash. Aside from some YouTube videos, there isn't much need for that anymore either. It's being replaced by HTML 5.

I've had it disabled for a LONG time and have yet to find a site I really needed it. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me it's safe to use again.

Take this with a 50# grain of salt, since I program frequently in Java. Yeah, I think you still need it. Plenty of sites and apps still use it. Personally, I keep it up to date.

One way to find out would be to delete it *completely* and then see if all of your sites still function.