re: Windows users
No. Don't remove the Javapath environment reference from your PATH variable.
The reason why the registry didn't work is that the Oracle Javapath script needs to run in the PATH sequence ahead of the JRE & JDK directories - it will sort out the current version:
put this directory at the HEAD of your %PATH%
variable:
C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath
[or wherever it is on your desktop]
so your PATH will look something like this - mine for example
PATH=C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath;<other path directories>;E:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_77\bin;E:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_77\bin
You will then see the correct, current version:
C:\>java -version
java version "1.8.0_77"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_77-b03)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.77-b03, mixed mode)