Well it's certainly had it's share of problems recently on that front, hasn't it? I realize that mostly related to using it in the web browser, rather than with local programs, but security is definitely a concern. I also dislike how aggressively Oracle pushes their propriety version and how even open source projects seemingly go along with this (i.e. "For best results, use with Oracle" etc.). And finally, it's a trivial gripe, but I do prefer native applications just for the sake of not having to install yet another support package.

So no, surprisingly I meant what I actually said. But now that you mention it, Java programs do tend to have crap UIs. I can't comment on whether this applies to the bitcoinj based clients mentioned above as I have not tried them. I may yet do so considering the dearth of appealing clients in general.