I just downloaded Eclipse 3.1 M7 and tried it out.  This is the first eclipse build I’ve tried on OS X 10.4 (on Java 1.4.2_07 and Java 1.5.0_02) and for the first time it actually appears usable on my powerbook.  Previous builds (on previous OS’s with previous versions of Java) were always frustratingly slow to use and I’d rapidly give up and go back to a Linux or Windows box (or vi).  With this release it appears to keep up with my typing, editor windows open and close quickly and startup is really fast.

A lot of the improvements is due to the Eclipse team improving SWT performance and Eclipse performance in general but there’s probably a substantial benefit provided by the new OS as well – Swing-based and non-GUI Java apps appear to be noticeably faster on OS X 10.4 as well.

Top job to all involved!