[cubefox]

Java Applets also froze the entire browser when loading. Even more so than the Windows Media / QuickTime / Real Player plug-ins. Only the Flash plug-in didn't noticeably freeze the browser. It was heavily CPU optimized and even used AVX for rendering, as far as I remember.

[cesarb]

> > No, Java applets failed because they became the poster child for "Java is slow" take.

> Java Applets also froze the entire browser when loading.

More than just "poster child", I believe Java applets are the origin of the "Java is slow" meme. The first time many people heard of Java would be when it locked up their browser for a whole minute while loading an applet, with a status bar message pointing to Java as the culprit.