The history of Java UI is littered with disastrous decisions, starting with the AWT (Abstract Windowing Toolkit), which was created at the last second, because (no surprise) the language designers hadn't considered UI as an important paradigm for Java. Rumor has it that AWT was one month from conception to completion, which certainly fits. The results of AWT -- buggy and equally mediocre on all platforms -- destroyed everyone's faith in Java UI, for so long that Swing, which has been baking for years and years, is only just getting back some of the lost mojo. Users, who have a long memory of first impressions, still equate Java with crappy user interfaces, so to them the steaming coffee cup looks like something else that steams.