1. Performance Enhancements in Java 2D Graphics operations
JavaUpdate
Performance Enhancements
in Java 2D Graphics operations

2. Java 6.0 update 10 New Direct3D Accelerated Rendering Pipeline
Translating into improved rendering of Swing or Java2D
Hardware accelerated operations: alpha compositing, gradients, arbitrary transformations, filtering and other more advanced 2D operations
New Direct3D Accelerated Rendering Pipeline for Microsoft Windows Platforms, Enabled by Default
This release introduces a fully hardware accelerated graphics pipeline based on the Microsoft Direct3D 9 API, translating into improved rendering of Swing or Java2D applications which rely on alpha compositing, gradients, arbitrary transformations, filtering and other more advanced 2D operations.
Since the new pipeline utilizes hardware acceleration capabilities offered by video cards, it is very important that the latest drivers for the cards are installed. Please refer to your system or video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.

3. Requirements
New pipeline utilizes hardware acceleration capabilities offered by video cards: NVIDIA & ATI
Required hardware capabilities must be present:
hardware transform and lighting (HW TnL)
the device must support Pixel Shaders 2.0 model
Some more advanced optimizations are only available on devices supporting Pixel Shader 3.0 model.
DirectX 9.0c runtime or later
Only devices produced by Nvidia and ATI are currently supported due to performance and driver quality issues. Other manufacturers (such as Intel) may be supported in a future release.

4. Backwards compatibility
Next Generation Java Plug-in:
Built-in support for the Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP)
Reuse extensions originally designed for Java Web Start applications such as the components of the JavaFX runtime
Support for hardware accelerated 3D graphics, video playback, spatialized audio and more.
Built-in support for the Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) allows applets to immediately reuse extensions originally designed for Java Web Start applications such as the components of the JavaFX runtime, support for hardware accelerated 3D graphics, video playback, spatialized audio and more.

5. How to install?
Get the latest build from
Next generation Java Plug-in is the default for IE and Firefox 3
Switch between the old and new Plug-ins by using the Java Control Panel

6. Further reading For more information, please see the following links:
Release Notes for the Next Generation Java Plug-in
JNLP Support in the New Java Plug-in
JRE Version Selection in the New Java Plug-in
Applet Developer's Guide (part of documentation bundle)