Does Java come pre-installed on Mac OS X 10.7/10.8 and beyond? Does Java (the JDK) come pre-installed with Macs on OS X 10.7/10.8 and beyond? I am hearing Apple is going to stop shipping Java with 10.8 and beyond but I couldn't find any link to confirm it/deny it.
Apple did stop shipping Java as of 10.7 and higher. Neither the JDK nor the JRE come preinstalled. However, the first time you need a JRE, Mac OS X will offer to download and install it for you (via the Software Update mechanism).

Similarly, javac is stubbed in a base OS X install and will trigger the install process.

Note that the Apple JRE/JDK is Java 1.6—if you need 1.7 or 1.8, you'll need to get it yourself from Oracle.