If they don't do this, Java is in danger of being ignored because it'll be all hype and no delivery on their promises. I think that Sun should be concentrating on simplicity, stability and speed, not an API for every fringe group. I'm glad that Java is evolving, but developers should probably get a chance to breathe, here. Even our top Java programmers are just starting to really dig into 1.1 and make it really sing. Keep adding API, but don't put it in the core.
Extensions are cool.
Sun does not understand how to make Java more ubiquitous and is trying the bloatware strategy from lack of vision. Sun will kill Java trying to make it do everything. History has shown that if you give us developers just a little bit, we'll wring every ounce out of it. I thought the whole purpose of Java was platform independence. As the API grows, Sun is limiting the number of platforms that have the resources to implement it.