I didn't used to like Java at all because of it's closed nature, so I'm not that well educated about it. However now that the OpenJDK has been released, I'm actually pretty excited for where Java is going. I may even see if I can try to learn it.
P.S. FLOSS recently had a great interview with the guys that were the driving force behind the OpenJDK.
http://twit.tv/floss33