My Java app needed 600-1400 milliseconds to parse an XML file and create some menus based on the contents. That was on an Athlon 600, 384MB RAM, Java 1.4, Win2k.

Now, on the new computer, it takes less than 100 milliseconds. This is an Athlon64 3200+ (2.0 GHz, running in 32-bit mode), 1GB RAM, Java 1.5a, WinXP.

What is the main reason for this sudden surge of speed? Just the RAM and CPU? Or is Java 1.5 so much faster?