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We've adjusted our networked Java desktop time and expense tracking system (Senomix Timesheets) to provide a cloud-hosted option for our customers and I thought I'd post it up as an example of how Java and Java Web Start can be used in SaaS for Windows and Mac OS X.
In our solution, applications run from user desktops to provide a thick client which works outside of web browsers, with the server component deployed to a host in the cloud. The result provides the connectivity (and centralized web page installation) of a web application while still giving users the speed and responsiveness of desktop software.
Since the client apps use Java Web Start for operation, we were able to reuse an established desktop Java code base in the SaaS system which had already been created for a standard licensed model. The additional development to shift things to the cloud was relatively minimal and the common code base also made it easy for us to continue with a self-installed licensed system in parallel with the hosted SaaS option.
If you have a set of Java applications operating with a desktop one-time-charge licensing model and are wondering how you might add a SaaS business model to that mix, taking a look at Java Web Start might be worth your while. If you'd like to check our solution for yourself, you can find a summary of screen shots, system features and a 30-day trial at: http://www.senomix.com
But I've not yet come across any mainstream articles which discuss the contortions and hacks the engineering team have gone through to bring this machine home.
The mission's page: http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/enterp/missions/hayabusa/index.shtml
gives an overview of the spacecraft. It has been limping home on one strained engine for the past five years, as described here: http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp?storyID=news/japa042507.xml&headLine=Asteroid
Successfully returning that spacecraft home, asteroid samples or none, seems a hack worthy of recognition.