Javas built in monitor?

So basically i'm practicing my java :P In the book it says that "Locks and conditions are more powerful and flexible than the built in monitor, and in consequence, this section of the book can be completely ignored. However if you are working with legacy java code, you may encounter Javas built in monitor"...

So i'm a little confused... is the built in monitor referring to the Synchronized keyword or what? So basically when you use the Synchronized keyword you "lock it oldschool" and then you can use it as a monitor? Thanks

Read the API doc for the notify and wait methods of the Object class for discussions of monitor.

My questions was in other words -does an object become a monitor when a thread locks it with synchronized? - Is it okay to use Synchronized or is that outdated to? Thanks

Any object is a monitor for wait and notify and synchronized.
The new classes give you a lot of new functionality with a small bit of extra usages to learn.

ok thanks.