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Java 1.3.1 Available for Mac OS X
moofman and TheAJofOZ write in that Java 1.3.1 Update 1 is available for Mac OS X. The new release offers text, mouse, and printing improvements, as well as better overall stability and compatibility. Mac OS X 10.1.3 is a prerequisite. Get it via Software Update, or download it from Apple. For more information, check out the developer release notes.
This update apparently improves graphics hardware acceleration for Java (haven't tested it yet). It's still somewhat experimental, so you have to turn it on manually. With the new update, you specify the video cards for which you want it enabled. The release notes explain how to do this, but give the wrong path for the config file that has the names of the video cards your machine might support. The correct path seems to be:
/Library/Java/Home/lib/glconfigurationlist.propert ies
Curious to see if there's an improvement. Though the low-level stuff is blazingly fast on OS X, the high-level, especially Swing, has been pretty sluggish.
A preview of 1.4.0 will be made available at WWDC, according to Apple.
A lot of us are wondering about 1.4. Some time ago, Allen Denison of Apple posted this message on Apple's Java-dev list which answers a lot of your concerns.
The short: they are prioritizing getting it right over getting it fast, but closing the release gap between Sun's and Apple's Java updates is a major goal for Apple. They are actively working on 1.4, and general speculation is that it will be available Q2.
And yes, as numerous others have pointed out, 1.3.1 has been out for OS X for about five months. This is just a patch to 1.3.1.