First they are both excellent IDEs (or both deeply flawed IDEs depending on your perspective). This is the perception I’ve always had from using them both.
NetBeans is slow, less broad (it’s really just Java and Ruby that it’s good at) however it’s features are far better implemented and far better thought out.
Eclipse is then the opposite. Faster (but I wouldn’t say fast), more features (or more precisely it has more plugins) but it’s also very buggy. I once worked at a place where my copy of Eclipse would crash about 3 or 4 times every day. NetBeans rarely crashes (at least for me). I also once wanted to change the colours in the Eclipse editor and found I had to work across three options sections (in NetBeans it’s all in one place).
Another example of how Eclipse beats NetBeans is in regards to non-Java languages. NetBeans does support others, but it’s mainly basic syntax highlighting and a few other bells and whistles. IMHO outside of Java and Ruby there is pretty much no reason to use NetBeans (and Ruby support has officially been droppped). In contrast there are tonnes of things built on top of Eclipse. Even lots of non-IDE tools exist that are built on top of the Eclipse foundation, like some of the ClearCase and ClearQuest tools.
Personally I prefer NetBeans, but it’s far from perfect and I wouldn’t be unhappy with Eclipse.
For my Java programming I’ve been using IntelliJ. Yes, you have to pay for it (for the full-blown version, the Community version is free) but in my experience it seems that for core-functionality, Eclipse and IntelliJ are on par but IntelliJ is more polished and less buggy.
We used it in a 50-person Java shop on a project with about a 2 GB checkout. Seemed to hold up okay.
I haven’t used NetBeans so no comment there.
Been using Eclipse since version 2.0. Never had it crash on me. Had a couple of plugins give problems, but I just removed them.
Tried Netbeans before that but didn’t like it. It’s probably much different now.
I’m so used to Eclipse now that I couldn’t see changing to anything else.
I use both everyday. I could live without either. I also use VS and JEdit as needed.
Vi
Hi!
I use the both, more often Eclipse. Eclipse is more famous in professional environment but less stable than Netbeans. I find much more plugins for Eclipse but some of them are poorly implemented (the plugin for GIT for example) it lacks a good build-in profiler (TPTP consumes too much memory) whereas Netbeans has an excellent profiler. I find Eclipse easier to use than Netbeans but mainly because I have spent more time on the first one. Eclipse seems often a bit faster than Netbeans but Netbeans has some nice tools like Matisse 
I agree with refri89, ANT is a real plus, look at Maven too, using a build tool is nice for a project that is a bit IDE-agnostic, when some programmers use blueJ, some others use Eclipse and some others use Netbeans, having a common build tool is better.
at first (back in 2001) NB fanatic.
then 2004-2011, Eclipse FTW.
Tried NB 6 but can’t be bothered. Swing UI is too unresponsive. Loading a menu takes that annoying split second time.
Eclipse on Vista has good looking font with anti-aliasing.
I’ve used Eclipse, IntelliJ and Netbeans.
Eclipse is far superior in Java. So, if you’re doing pure Java (game) development then go with Eclipse.
IntelliJ and Netbeans provide better integration for things like maven and working with other type of files than java, e.g. javascript. So if you’re a web developer then this might be better, then of course Eclipse WTP exists, but I haven’t tried it.
But, Eclipse+Java=FTW, much nicer Java coding in Eclipse.
Eclipse Indigo 3.7 will provide a GUI builder called WindowBuilder, a better Maven integration and a stable version of EGIT, the plugin used for GIT versioning system. It will address some major limitations of Eclipse on my view, it is a good piece of news
Eclipse is the official dev env. for Android as well.
Another consideration is the support environment. I’ve gotten some excellent support on the Eclipse boards. But also, have needed it due to some of the complexities of trying to write a servlet code that also handles JDBC/database interaction. I made the mistake of trying to use a book based on NetBeans IDE for learning servlet writing. The folks at Eclipse helped me find tutorials that eventually allowed me to convert NetBeans WAR files to Eclipse format so I could use my book & examples after all. (Not an efficient way to learn servlets, believe me. If I could do it all over…)
When I was trying out NetBeans, I was kind of put off by the clutter and noise at the site, lots of tutorials with bad english, bad spelling. Lots of commercial offers intermixed. It’s not terrible, but I prefer the calmer Eclipse environment. Some might call it sterile? Matter of taste.
Unless there is a definite, understood need that can only be addressed by one side, just flip a coin and you’ll do fine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buridan’s_ass
The only problem I’ve had with editing in Eclipse is sometimes the dropdown list gets really slow (for the code helper). But if you check the Eclipse Forum, there are ways to deal with that.
use them both equally. that way you won’t feel totally overwhelmed as if you used one for a long time and decided to switch or try the other.
I have been using Eclipse starting out learning java and I like it so much that I haven’t felt the need to try others.
I have installed and tried both, yet for some reason Eclipse appeals to me the most, so…Eclipse it is! ;D
I finally gave netbeans a go and honestly I hate it. Everything feels clunky and unorganized. I like Eclipse so much more.
The only thing going for Netbeans is its profiler but honestly, that’s only something I’ll be using from time to time, so look and feel matters more ;D
The profiler is separately available as ‘VisualVM’, which is included in the JDK.
I have never of VisualVM. How do I use it?
Click it.