The decline and fall of Java on the desktop part 1 (1999-2005)

This is the first in a series of articles about the history of Java on the Desktop, from my perspective as a developer who started working with Java in the late 90's. I'm writing this, partly as a background for why I created jDeploy, a developer-friendly desktop deployment tool for Java. Despite the ominous tone of this article's title, I believe that Java is a compelling platform for modern desktop applications. Stick around for the whole series to find out why.

Isn't Java still one of the languages every aspiring programmer learns in school?