I used the same test program from bug 4314198 using JDK1.4 to read a plain HTML file with tables. (See the attached file). 9 out of 10 test runs, the text contents in the table display got squashed.

Please evaluate. Thanks!

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java version
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% java -version
java version "1.4.0"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.0-b92)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.0-b92, mixed mode)

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test program
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public class TestHTMLRead extends javax.swing.JFrame
    implements java.awt.event.ActionListener
{
    java.net.URL url;
    javax.swing.JEditorPane editorPane;
    javax.swing.JScrollPane scrollPane;
    javax.swing.JButton reloadButton;

    public TestHTMLRead()
    {
        editorPane = new javax.swing.JEditorPane();
        scrollPane = new javax.swing.JScrollPane(editorPane);
        getContentPane().add(java.awt.BorderLayout.CENTER, scrollPane);

        reloadButton = new javax.swing.JButton("Reload");
        reloadButton.addActionListener(this);
        getContentPane().add(java.awt.BorderLayout.SOUTH, reloadButton);
        setSize(750, 425);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(javax.swing.JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);
    }

    public void reloadBrowser()
    {
        try {
            url = new java.net.URL("file:/tmp/report.html");
            editorPane.setPage(url);
        } catch (java.io.IOException ex) { ex.printStackTrace(); }
    }

    public void actionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent event)
    {
        Object source = event.getSource();
        if (source == reloadButton)
        {
            reloadBrowser();
        }
    }

    public static void main(String[] argv)
    {
        (new TestHTMLRead()).show();
    }
}

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sample html file
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See attachment (report.html).