Cool I finally found the pool button 
I saw so many Webstart that could run as an Applet that I begin to wonder that if I am the only one to dislike the Webstart popup and its autoinstall program feature.
Your vote are welcome, please remember that we are talking from end user side.
If the Java Plugin is not installed:
[] Applet -> you see an empty rectangle, with the āyellow barā offering you a JRE download.
[] Webstart -> bunch of XML replacing the entire webpage
Applet is the obvious winner, IMHO.
In case Java is installed:
[] Applet -> might work, depending on JRE version / browser
[] Webstart -> good chance it actually works
Webstart wins hands down.
Now Iāve got 6.0u12, applet, every time - because they seem to work 100%, and start up nearly as fast as Flash.
Cas
I keep my old 1.6-02 for compatibility purpose, but I got a huge smile when I read this sentence āstart up nearly as fast as Flash.ā Great! Java on the Web client side can now come back from its cendra as the Phoenix.
Applets.
Iām not keen on giving java free access through the firewall so I have to allow access for every webstart app (if I bother at all) which is a bore.
I get tired of all those bloody shortcuts that webstart creates alsoā¦
Webstartās only for useful security reasons - why use it otherwise?
java plugin 2 installed then applet otherwise java web start.
Applets.
JWS apps usually take longer to load and are more unpredictable in what youāre going to get. Often they require more dialogs, too: loading dialog, trust dialog, and shortcut dialog. By the third dialog Iām thinking ājeez just show me the app alreadyā.
Definatly applets; Theyāre all way backward compatible to java 1.1 (if youād want and stick to the 1.1 syntax), their deployment is simple enough (require as few scary popups as possible) and run transparantly from within the browser like people are accustomed too with webapps.
Depends on the app.
Applets are what I want for smaller casual things - 4k games, flash competitor style games.
If Iām playing some huge 3D extravaganza of an FPS MMORPG AAAemUp I think Iād rather have webstart with desktop shortcut integration or (maybe better) just a normal stand alone installer. I donāt really want the browser involved at all with that sort of game.
Kev
What kev said.
What Markus said.
What Ranger said. 
(Also, anything that uses external libraries like LWJGL works a lot better as Webstart in my experience)
One of the main things I dislike about the webstart is after trying out a bunch of games, theres a bunch of uninstalls to do, hehehehe. Applets are short and sweet, you try it and dont have to uninstall anything.
I prefer Webstart.
It fits into my need, Iām not interested in executing a game inside a browser and I donāt want to undergo the limitations of applets. I find Webstart easy to deploy applications that rely on third party libraries. Now you can do almost the same things in a applet and in Java Webstart but I donāt really see why I would switch to applets.
I have to go with webstart.
simply becasue I dont ahve admin, so I cannot put java on my Chrome browser, so I cannot play applets on it :(.
For a webstart I jsut have to download teh jnlp file(a drag but usually worth it).
P.S. : loave the what he said chain 
I like applets when they are going :
If its a small game or a program that has no use outside the browser then Iām all for applets.
If the game has a large screen size or something clearly not just for being in a browser then webstart would be better.
Just to note it seems my uni has turned off webstart on all computers and only applets work. No idea why they would do that and if any other places do the same thing.
The reason I like applets is because of this game. Itās not Java, itās Flash butā¦ oh look - you didnāt have to do a thing, just surf on over and youāre playing it and thereās a slim chance youāll give them some cashola. Itās the ultimate in deployment goals. If I could do that, Iād be richer than I am now (which wonāt be hard as my monthly income is about $100 :P)
Cas
Actually, I just tested out that game and got a Flash pop up message asking me if it was ok to store 1Mb of information on my hard driveā¦but I get your point and totally agree.
Can you still use Java Webstart on command line? (javaws http://www.myprettywebsite.com/myjnlpfile.jnlp)
If you want to increase your monthly income, you might be interested in this :P: http://www.java-gaming.org/index.php/topic,20005.0.html
[quote]Can you still use Java Webstart on command line? (javaws http://www.myprettywebsite.com/myjnlpfile.jnlp)
[/quote]
Not sure, I donāt use them anymore since I have my laptop but that doesnāt get pass the port blocker they also have :-\