Recipe#3: Install the Eclipse IDE

No serious Java developer I know writes code in a text editor; you need an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The benefits of using an IDE can't be emphasized enough, and with many free options out there, you have no excuse. (See a comparison of the major Java IDEs). My IDE of choice is Eclipse.

1. Download Eclipse (http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/). Because I mostly develop web applications, I use the "Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers" flavor.
2. The platform version you get depends on what JVM you have installed. If the JVM is 32-bit, get the 32-bit version of the IDE.
3. Extract the downloaded .zip to a location that will be Eclipse's installation directory.
4. Run %install_dir%\eclipse.exe. Should open the IDE and prompt you to configure workspaces. My practice is to specify a workspace for each major project I work on, most of which will have many related Eclipse projects.
5. Since Eclipse is not installed like other Windows applications, create a shortcut on your desktop to the Eclipse executable.

You'll get more use out of the IDE if you learn to use it properly. Invest in a book on this topic or Google for tutorials (check out http://www.vogella.de/articles/Eclipse/article.html for a start).