On JVM 1.3.0, 1.3.1 and 1.4, JFrame instances are not garbage collected upon disposal.
Exception occurred during event dispatching:
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
        <<no stack trace available>>

================================================================================
To reproduce problem
-Compile SimpleFrame.java and JFrameBug.java
- execute JFrameBug
- on the "JFrameBug Test" window choice "Open Frame" to Start program:

Program failed with this message "Exception occurred during event dispatching:
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
        <<no stack trace available>>"

==============================================================================
Files following

file SimpleFrame.java
-------------------


import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;


public class SimpleFrame extends JFrame{

  public SimpleFrame() {
    setSize(600, 600);
    JPanel panel = new JPanel();
    JButton openButton = new JButton("Ouvrir");
    JButton closeButton = new JButton("Fermer");
    openButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        SimpleFrame s = new SimpleFrame();
        s.show();
      }
    });
    closeButton.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        dispose();
      }
    });
    for (int i=0; i<50; i++) {
      panel.add(new JLabel("Simple Frame - "));
    }
    panel.add(openButton);
    panel.add(closeButton);
    getContentPane().add(panel);
  }
}


file JFrameBug.java
-------------------
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;

public class JFrameBug extends JFrame {
  JPanel contentPane;
  JMenuBar jMenuBar1 = new JMenuBar();
  JMenu jMenuFile = new JMenu();
  JMenuItem jMenuFileOpenFrame = new JMenuItem();
  JMenuItem jMenuFileExit = new JMenuItem();
  BorderLayout borderLayout1 = new BorderLayout();

  /**Construct the frame*/
  public JFrameBug() {
    enableEvents(AWTEvent.WINDOW_EVENT_MASK);
    try {
      jbInit();
    }
    catch(Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
    show();
  }
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    JFrameBug JFramBug1 = new JFrameBug();

  }

  private void jbInit() throws Exception {
    //setIconImage(Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().createImage(JFrameBug.class.getRe
source("[Your Icon]")));
    contentPane = (JPanel) this.getContentPane();
    contentPane.setLayout(borderLayout1);
    this.setSize(new Dimension(800, 600));
    this.setTitle("JFrameBug Test");
    jMenuFile.setText("File");
    jMenuFileExit.setText("Exit");
    jMenuFileOpenFrame.setText("Open Frame");
    jMenuFileExit.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        jMenuFileExit_actionPerformed(e);
      }
    });
    jMenuFileOpenFrame.addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
      public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
        jMenuFileOpenFrame_actionPerformed(e);
      }
    });
    jMenuFile.add(jMenuFileOpenFrame);
    jMenuFile.add(jMenuFileExit);
    jMenuBar1.add(jMenuFile);
    this.setJMenuBar(jMenuBar1);
  }
  /**File | Exit action performed*/
  public void jMenuFileExit_actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
    System.exit(0);
  }
  /**File | Start Tests action performed*/
  public void jMenuFileOpenFrame_actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
    for (int i=0; i<1200;i++) {
      SimpleFrame s = new SimpleFrame();
      s.show();
      s.dispose();
    }
  }
  /**Overridden so we can exit when window is closed*/
  protected void processWindowEvent(WindowEvent e) {
    super.processWindowEvent(e);
    if (e.getID() == WindowEvent.WINDOW_CLOSING) {
      jMenuFileExit_actionPerformed(null);
    }
  }
}