Another Major Upgrade

While Java 1.5 is still considered new for some people, Sun Microsystem has started to develop the next major upgrade that will be available as Java 1.6 (codename Mustang). Here is the summary of the official release :

The desktop Java client group at Sun is working on some great features and functionality in the next release of Java (code named Mustang); we thought it might be useful to detail some of the highlights here. Where possible, we will add pointers to additional information (such as Bug IDs or other articles) and we will also give information on the Mustang build that each item is integrated into, as we proceed in development. And with the Mustang release, this is more than just talk; you can go download the latest bits anytime you want at http://mustang.dev.java.net.

Note that we are attempting to be as open and honest as possible here; we are telling you the things that we would like to do in Mustang; it is entirely possible that some of these items may not make it into the release for one reason or another. Mustang is, after all, very much mid-development right now. Also, any API additions or other enhancements to the J2SE platform specification are subject to review and approval by the JSR 270 Expert Group. But beyond these caveats, this list should contain, at any given time, the features that we are currently hoping to deliver in Mustang.

Note too that this is not an exhaustive list of everything we are working on in the client group; these are just the larger, more visible, more called-for, or more exciting features that we have on our plate.

Finally, we encourage you to go looking for more information on java.sun.com. In particular, our bug reports tend to contain our latest thinking about bugs, features, and fixes. For items below that contain bug IDs, click on the links or search the bug database for that bug ID to read more about that feature.

We've broken up the list into the different areas of client technology:
* Swing
* Java2D
* Internationalization
* AWT
* Deployment


Source: Java