"I'm a Java dev, flipping back and forth between IntelliJ and Eclipse. Using Eclipse since the pre-1.0 alpha, I still find it more comfortable. But IntelliJ's rate of improvement has prompted me to use it more."I think you get it really backwards... Back in the days IntelliJ was just soooo much more better than Eclipse it wasn't even funny to compare the two. It was just plain sad.
But... As a lot people predicted, Eclipse being Open Source and IBM having put some of its weight behind it, Eclipse started to get quite good.
Nowadays Eclipse as nearly caught up and it's just a matter of time before Open Source, once again, shall win.
It hasn't prevented me from buying IntelliJ at 70% during their doomsday sales.
Anyway the "rate of improvement" you're talking about is definitely on Eclipse's side (and this come from some using IntelliJ since version 3 or 4, don't remember), not on IntelliJ.
IntelliJ is still banking on its slight edge, but as time passes by that edge is eroding more and more...