Linked by Andy Roberts on Thu 19th May 2005 19:33 UTC
Java Swing comes with "pluggable look-and-feel technology", which essentially boils down to the fact that interfaces can be "skinned" (although this is simplifying a tad) and is therefore, extremely flexible. By default, Java ships with a cross-platform look-and-feel (LAF), which means your apps can look consistent across all platforms, or LAFs that mimic the look of a specific platform, say Windows, for example. However, one of the chief complaints of Java desktop applications is its "look". It basically stems from two issues:
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Swing may look ugly when compared with native widgets, but it manages to mantain a consistent look through every platform that Java supports. That's it's main advantage, portability.
If you don't like it, use SWT.
Also, I may point out that Swing is not slow... The problem is that's very easy to shoot yourself in the foot with Swing, but can happen with any toolkit, even those using native code. Well written Swing code can be as fast as a native application, if not faster.