Too heavy on Java?

Have been using some programmes which use Java heavily. Google Chrome is one, Prezi is another. And these programmes seem to hang up.

Prezi is a great presentation tool. I found that it freed me up from the PowerPoint bullet list and the temptation to put YOUR script on the PP slide. Here is an example from the IB Theory of Knowledge course in Mathematics as an area of knowledge.

But it is Java heavy. When I used the downloadable version for faster editing, the system resources used were at a max. In fact it hung up after about 20 minutes use. It also hung up Chrome.

The September 2009 issue of Linux Journal has a very interesting article giving an insiders view of producing Chrome - both browser and OS. James Gray interviews Evan Martin and Mads Ager about how these were produced. Interestingly, Google started the work by producing another Java Engine (V8 - named after an engine, not the drink, answers Mads).

V8 runs on Windows, Linux and Mac, is written mostly in C++, and was written by Lars Bak and Kasper Lund (in a farmhouse in Denmark).

So obviously rapid running of Java script needs a really good engine.

I wonder if I am experiencing multiple programmes calling upon one Java engine, and fouling up some parameters, or something? Could I be experiencing what we used to experience in earlier Windows days, when we had to restart the computer to put all back as it was? Can anyone who knows the technology enlighten me?