I'm not sure why, but version 3.4 of Netbeans, a Java IDE, is much more responsive on my iBook than it has been in past versions. I'm also finally using it in Aqua look and feel, which used to, in my perception, slow things down. I'd been using Metal to speed previous versions of Netbeans up, and that was still a bit too slow to get much real work done. Now Aqua seems to be the speed champ, which makes more sense, as it ties Swing directly to Mac OS X specific widgets. This OS X specific jive is not exactly in keeping with the whole Java mindset (where things should happen give or take the same xplat), but a neat little addition to the Mac Java VM.

Not real sure what changed in Netbeans, but it's certainly welcome.