I haven't programmed Java Applets since 1996. Have they solved the stability/slowness at loading issues yet? It always seemed like a shame that they weren't put

I haven't programmed Java Applets since 1996. Have they solved the stability/slowness at loading issues yet? It always seemed like a shame that they weren't put to more use, and yet they slowed the browser down and crashed it so much it put my right off them.