Java is not only for "Cool Applets" on Web pages. Remember that the language was originally conceived for embedded systems. Most of the Hype about Java has been related to the Web, but the language has the full power and capability of any other.

Full blown "Applications" written in Java are not run using a browser. In fact, you don't even need graphics. Command line driven, text only, Java applications can be run from a command prompt.

There has been a lot of press coverage about security problems with Java. In fact, the majority of the problems have been with a separate system called JavaScript. Netscape produced a scripting system called "LiveScript" to add extra functionality to the Web. When Java came out, they renamed it "JavaScript" and modified the syntax so that it looks similar. However, it is an utterly different beast that does not have the built in security features of Sun's Java language.

The few genuine security issues with Java itself have been very obscure, and Sun is fixing these as soon as they are discovered.

Java has only been out for around one year so far. However, despite being so new, it is proving to be a very solid system indeed. The language specification may change with time, particularly now that Microsoft have become a player. Eventually we may get an ANSI Java standard, but not for a long time.