Why does Eclipse for Java have retina text smoothing but Eclipse for C++ doesn't?

Question

Why does this discrepancy between the programs happen? Since they're both Eclipse programs, I'm wondering if this is a Retina-capable issue with my mac that I can fix.

Answer 1

The different editions of Eclipse are basically just different plugin bundles based on the same basic application. You can extend the Java version with all the plugins for C++ development and vice versa, there is (from this point of view) no need to have two different installations. So you could extend the Retina version with all the C++ tools via Help > Install new Software....

Utilizing the higher resolution has to be enabled explicitly. For the Eclipse core and GUI toolkit this was enabled by default after version 4.2. The design of the tabs in your screenshot of the Java version seems to indicate this or a later version while the design of the C++ version is the older default look that still would be possible with newer versions, but you need to deliberately set it.

It is not a prooperty inherent to the C++ or the Java edition but depends on the version of the base IDE. So either extend your Java version with the CDT or update the C++ version to a current version.

Note: This is not based on personal experience as I lack a retina Mac.