In previous versions Eclipse was slow and VS was fast. Now it is vice versa, which is another hint, that the Java IDEs made a great leap forward while MS did not do their job well. It is the same with SQL Server Management Studio: While having some nice new functions it is so bloated that it annoys me whenever I use it. And my machine is not too bad (Pentium D 2,8GHz with 2GB RAM) Both .NET and Java have its Pros and Cons but today it makes more fun to code with Eclipse and Java then with VS2005 and .NET. Therefore I will skip VS2008 and concentrate on OpenSource J2EE. But as soon as .NET will again be more fun to use I may be changing sides again ;)

Some years ago Visual Studio was the best in class tool. Nowadays I love using Eclipse for Java or SharpDevelop for .NET development because VS2005 never ran smoothly. Every part of it is slow compared to Eclipse.