[meta8609]

What would I gain over Java6? I don't use java for anything, except, I have a couple of apps on my machine that make use of it.

[chc]

Java 7 is faster in some cases. Also, some Java apps will require Java 7 — but obviously that doesn't apply to you if you aren't planning on using any new Java apps and those don't force an upgrade.

[pjmlp]

As a user it only makes sense to keep up with security updates, to use applications that depend on Java 7, the JIT compiler is also faster.

As a developer, even if some features got postponed to Java 8, it still has lots of nice new features to get your hands on.

[pooriaazimi]

Security enhancements, among other things.

Though, of course, you know better than clicking 'yes' on a random trojan installer, so maybe you don't need the security updates.

[juiceandjuice]

Java 7 has lots of enhancements for dynamic languages and some new things like NIO2 for asynchronous services (vert.x, for example, requires java 7)