Is NetBeans 6.5 Release Candidate Ready for FCS?

Well, been using netbeans 6.5 beta and dev builds on and off for a while now and found a few niggles and stability issues with some of them. Nothing serious though which have mostly been addressed.

Downloaded 6.5 RC1 and WOW what an improvement in stability ! 

I am using this release all the time now for my main development which is usually database driven web applications.

The new features I like best are :-

•  Speed up improvements
  

It is very much quicker in terms of start up and does not seem to suffer the pregnant pauses when bringing up hover overs like previous releases.

•  Stability
  

It has not crashed, locked up or phoned home yet!

•  Database Explorer changes
  

Having the ability to page through and update data from the IDE is great. I tend to use PL/SQl so coupled with the PL/SQL plugin it is getting close to not needing another database tool. Not quite there yet, I feel there is a need for the ability to at least list the database objects you have rights on even in other schema's.

• Client Side Javascript Debugger
  

Especially IE support which I am stuck with at work, although I tend to use Google Chrome for speed unless I need to debug. 

So is NetBeans 6.5 RC ready for FCS? 

I would say definitely YES from a web app development point of view.

Neils Netbeans Wish List

•  Google Chrome Javascript debugger plug in if possible.
  
•  Cross Schema listing of all database objects you have rights on in the database explorer.
•  Automatic minified Javascript/CSS builds.
•  Geronimo Application Server Plug in.
  

My favourite general IDE feature is the ability to undock windows to another monitor in a multi monitor setup, especialy where you have a desktop with the ability to show and switch between multiple desktops.