DesktopX isn't mentioned, but it is quite a nice article on Flash, Java and C#
Well, I read this decent article on Casual Game development over at Link Gamasutra and it was quite an insight. If you are interested in making small games, this is a great place to start!
In the article, there was a great link to a page, which breaks down Flash! Here it is: Link
Of course if Flash wasn't so expensive! I haven't used it, so I don't know how well it works. I only have a bit of experience with Java, but maybe after I play with both....
ah well. Thought some of you might like these articles.