# Networking Enhancments for J2SE 5.0

- Complete support for IPv6 on Windows XP (SP1) and 2003 server has been provided in this release. (4608529)
- The networking API now provides a way of setting timeouts on connect and read operations for protocol handlers. This will benefit any HTTP client application that must behave robustly in the event of server failure. (4700777)
- A new API provides a mean for Java applications, which includes RMI applications, to be launched via `inetd`. (4295885, 4673940)
- The `InetAddress` class now provides an API to allow testing for the reachability of a host. This features provides a ping-like capability in Java. (4639861)
- Cookie support has been improved. Applications and web containers can provide Cookie management by implementing the new `CookieHandler` API. (4696506)
- Proxy server configuration has been improved. It can now be dynamic and controlable by web containers and applications through the `ProxySelector` API, which can also handle failures to connect to the proxy. (4696512)
- A new framework provides a way for protocol handlers to access a file caching mechanism implemented by the platform or by a third party. (4837267)
- The specification of the URL class now mandates a minimum set of URL protocol handlers that are guaranteed to be present in J2SE. They are http, https, file, jar and ftp. (4180636)
- There have been a number of enhancements for JSSE (SSL/TLS). For more information, please see: Security Enhancements