Future of java applets and javaws is dark. Chrome have already cut down NPAPI. Most of the banks moved from java to javascript for they internet banking. The javaws will suffer a lot by introducing jigsaw modules. What is remaining? The "physical applets" of course! Seriously - the "killing" feature of applets is that they do not work offline. But similarly to javaws - they can! IcedTea-Web is now removing this boundaries, and what more, it will also allow you to detach applet out from browser - by jnlp shortcut, or by lunching html page by javaws directly. Apart of this, ITW is now JDK independent and you can run those features on any OpenJDK, even on
Oracle or IBM JDKs.
And except serving you web application comfortably online, ITW allows you to lock this application - even "signed ones" in sandbox. And of course there is Jogamp project - the awt-less plugin - How I wish to see it merged upstream!-)
Long story short, more security and much much more freedom