Hmm.. I've tried running it again now and it seems perfectly stable on my device. I've updated the java runtime since the original post, so my java version now reports:
But that shouldn't matter. I'm running a slightly older version (2010r2, build 735). Maybe the new version has a bug in it, or has some newer call that's not implemented in our version of IcedTea correctly?

I would say try to get the old version (r2) from the site and see if it works better for you. I'd also try updating IcedTea, since you are running an older version. It may be the combo of running a newer java app with an older java VM install, but it shouldn't cause that big of an issue.

Worst case, you can always ask for help on their website. Their tech support is pretty good, though I doubt they'll be able to tell you much more than what I've said here, since they're probably not testing it against IcedTea or the N900.

First off. thank your for your prompt reply.

my thoughts exactly.

I think the best way to proceed will be to update my java to the latest version. following the download instructions from the jDownloader threrad i was able to obtain the latest arm version of java (ejre-1_6_0_21) from their website. however it looks as though jDownloader is a stand alone application not depending on Icedtea and installs Java in /opt/ejre1.6.0_21/ rather than /opt/icetea6/ and creates system links in /usr/bin/ accordingly. is it safe to simply unpack the new versions, replace the files in /opt/icedtea6/bin/ and leave the existing system links found in /usr/bin/ in place? thanks in advance for your help.

I would just update IcedTea from the repository. Don't make things complicated until you've tried the simple solutions. A simple apt-get icedtea should update it to the current version in the repositories.

Failing that, I would actually look for the older Moneydance version (r2) and try that out. There's not a huge difference between r2 and r3 from the change log on their site. You could also try their preview release of r4.

I have already updated to the latest version of icedtea (icedtea6 1.8.4-2). now my
reports:
however the problem still persists. i will try an older version and check version's release/change notes as they may shed some light on my situation. beyond that, i fear there isn't anything to be done at present. thanks again for your help. ciao

If they are unable to give you the r2 version for some reason, let me know and I'll track down my installer from them. They release the program as a freely redistributable tarball, then use a key mechanism to implement the "purchase" part. (You can use it for free for up to a year or 100 transactions, to try it out.) So I don't think there would be an issue with me giving you the tarball I used to setup r2 on my system (which works fine), as you'd still need to purchase a key to get past the trial limit.

interesting. i didn't realise that java was available for maemo, but have been using java via easy debian. from what i read above the advantage easy debian seems to have is 'long press' for right click. also you can change the look and feel via gtk. i'm using the following command to run a bluetooth ftp program called obexftp-frontend

java -jar -Dswing.defaultlaf=com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKL ookAndFeel obexftp-frontend-core-0.6.4.jar >/dev/null 2>&1

when i run this via the "debbie" command from maemo it squishes everything to fit the window which is desirable sometimes, but when i run it from the easy debian desktop it doesn't squish things and i have to use e.d. ctrl-. (ctrl-period) to move the window around, which is desirable sometimes.

edit: to use the look and feel '-D' switch with java in easy debian to get it to mimic your easy debian theme and fonts you may need to install libswt-gtk via symantic

thanks for your help woody. i opted to uninstall icedtea6 and install the latest java release following instruction found in another post and also now am using the "Generic Unix (Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, etc)" latest release. everything appears to be stable though i haven't had much time to test yet. will report back after doing so.

Glad to hear it's working for you now. If I update to r3 it's good to know there's a path that works for it. Hope you enjoy MoneyDance, I know I've found it quite an apt replacement for Quicken.