I assume the latest update version of java would provide better performance.
I am looking for a way to implement isolation of software components from endless loops or memory leaks. Android isolates each app in it's own process, Google Chrome isolates each tab in it's own process.
My primary drawback is that java takes so long to start and also I would like to reduce memory consumption.
Is there any alternate build or more controlled startup that will accomplish this?
In general, Java has a much longer startup time than other languages. If you are sticking with Java on a desktop app, a lot of stuff like startup time is determined by the JRE installed on the client's computer, which you can't control.
As to "endless memory leaks"... Java doesn't leak memory. If your program does, fix it.
If quick startup is your goal, Java on a PC may not be your best bet. It's going to take a few seconds because that's how long it takes to load the VM from disk.
If you want your app to start more quickly it's easy to get a splash screen up, just create a module that only loads your splash screen, waits for it to fully display then uses reflection to link to your "Real" main module.
(Use reflection because otherwise it will pull in your entire program through references before it starts the main one--at least that's how it used to work).
If you're talking about run-time performance, you won't get quicker by changing languages, Java's about as fast as you can get. You MIGHT be able to get a boost by converting to C/C++ and rewriting it to suit those platforms (Less OO, stack allocations instead of heap, etc), but otherwise none of the other languages in general usage are close to Java in speed.
If you really need the quick startup, depending on what you are doing there may be some tricks. I've seen projects that try to keep a Java VM running in your toolbar and allow you to make requests (tell it to start an app). This was faster but made additional requirements of the user (Loading this additional tool)
Another possibility--if you are constantly starting up/shutting down small tasks and that's the reason the startup bothers you then you can definitely speed it up by keeping it running invisibly. Just have your Java app open a socket and listen for commands then create a little .EXE or shell script that can start your program if it's not running or send commands to that socket if it is. This would completely eliminate startups after the first run.
This is a second answer because it's completely different and my other got too long :)
Try compiling it--I think GCC can compile it. This could almost completely eliminate your startup. I believe Jikes used to be a windows java compiler by IBM, but I don't know if it's still maintained.
Note that compiled code will probably run slower than JVM code for long-running apps.