Demystifying Java for Intranets: slide 28

Tools for Java

• Visual Cafe
• JBuilder
• J++ -- with proprietary extensions
• Netbeans - written entirely in Java
• Java Workshop - Java from the source. Broken (presumably java) server end code at Sun prevents me from giving you a URL!
• Metrowerks
• Visual Age - Big Blue Java
• FreeBuilder - open source, written entirely in Java

The bottom line is that you should use Sun's JDK (or your local platform's equivalent) and the text editor of your choice. None of the available IDEs are worth what they cost. All will cause you more problems than they solve. Unless you enjoy paying to beta test products, there's no reason to purchase any of these products at this time.

source: comp.lang.java FAQ