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On Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty, Compiz comes running out of the box on the mid-level preset for desktop effects. These effects and generally beautiful and pleasing, but a couple of the apps that I use are Java-based and have some compatibility issues with Compiz. At least for my apps, I've found a way around this issue.

If you ever try and startup Intellij and see this error: "Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: Bad version number in .class file....", you'll know that something's not quite right. It turns out that Intellij version 7 and above require JDK 6 to run properly. So, make sure to double-check the following points.

Debugging time is a blessed time in one's day where the hotkeys for continue, step into, step over, and others often grace the pads of the programmer's fingers. This can be quite a rewarding experience. Now ponder on the disappointment that materializes on the programmer's crestfallen brow when the step into button is pressed and upon the screen displays the all-descriptive and utterly useless "/** compiled code */". Maven mixed with IntelliJ to the rescue -- download the sources!

Development on JEE projects can be a real pain sometime. 1/2 of this (sometimes in literal minutes) is because of the need to spin up the server in order to run your code. This server startup time can be a killer of one's development momentum.

True to its mantra, IntelliJ IDEA delivers some goodness is making this pain a little more pleasurable -- if that's possible.

IntelliJ is my current favorite IDE. Ubuntu is my current favorite Linux flavors. Put 'em both together and waddya' get? My current favorite day on the job.