...and it has pure Ruby goodness tied into it! I think I'm going to wash my .NET hands today with Neatbens SOAp enhancements. Congratulations to the great folks from NetBeans! You definetely nailed it this time.

From their official press release:

The focus of NetBeans IDE 6.0 is superior developer productivity with a smarter, faster editor, and the integration of all NetBeans products into one IDE. NetBeans IDE 6.0 features Ruby/JRuby/Ruby on Rails support, enhancements for improved Swing development, a new Visual Game Designer, updated Data Binding support, integrated Profiling, and more. The new installer lets you customize your download preferences--use it to choose the features and runtimes you need.
Highlights of NetBeans IDE 6.0 are:

Java
* Swing GUI Builder
* Intelligent Editor
* Profiler
* Debugger
* Updated Platform APIs

C/C++
* C/C++ Projects and Templates
* Source Code Editor
* Multiple Configurations
* Class Hierarchy Browser
* File Navigation
Ruby
* Ruby on Rails Support
* JRuby Runtime
* Code Completion
* Debugger
* Refactoring
Mobility
* Game Builder
* Device Fragmentation
* SVG Graphics
* Web Services
* Handheld Device / Set Top Box
Web & Java EE
* Visual JSF Design
* Enhanced JavaScript
* AJAX Enabled Components
* CSS Editor
* Web Services & SOA
SOA
* XML Schema Editor, XSLT Designer
* WSDL Designer
* BPEL Designer
* Service Assembly Editor
* Deploy to JBI compliant runtime

Awesome! Really awesome! I've been using Netbeans on the side(due to my obedience with .NET) and it has been a great experience for me. I have used Java IDEs in the past(Visual Cafe 4 anyone?) and i must say that Netbeans has come along way since the days of old when Eclipse elitist call Netbeans a "a tool for non-serious java developers". I think this release has proven that NetBeans is valid alternative against the big boys(Eclipse & IntelliJ among others).

Now,  onwards to a cup of Java. ;)

Sounds strange but it's true. Just ask Mark Anders and he'll tell you the complete story. ;)

Anders:
"... The original prototype was written in Java. I loved Java as a language and Scott(Guthrie) did too. So it was done in Java, and we took that around to lots of different groups. The first group that we took it to was the tools team. The VB and the InterDev teams were in a feud, and when they saw our demo they liked it. They said, 'If you build that, we will target it with our tools."