I recently got my hands on an eval copy of suns java desktop for *nix. It runs on its own cd kinda like knoppix or any other live distro you might think of. Now before i go any further i just want to let everybody know that:

1. the opinions expressed here are just that. you dont like it get over it.
2. I understand that it was a live eval and all of the downsides associated with them ... like running slow because of working from the ram.

It didnt come with many packages to play around with. It gave me trouble running stuff that i had setup on my *nix partitions such as GAIM. It did have a nice warm fuzzy look to it. IMHO it isnt anybetter than KDE or GNOME. I dont understand how sun thinks they are going to make any money charging people for something that just looks a little prettier. Of course as the *nix users here all know the Graphical User Interface isnt where the true power of linux is anyways. The bottom line is this : if you have more money than you do brains spend the $100USD on this product to make your favorite distro look like windows XP. If not save the money stick with your window manager of choice and go buy something that might benifit you