It's been a while since any feedback to this thread. However since I found it and took the input seriously I feel it important to give an update.
I have used Java Decompiler Free with good success. However, recently I accidentally deleted quite a bit of code of a production J2EE application. assumed JD Free would handle it, but it doesn't handle generics at all. Plus there was code where it handled variable initialization totally wrong. What I ended up with was a total mess.
There may not be anything out there that will to the job correctly. In my case it's just another lesson in backup, backup, backup. I need a de-compiler that handles generics properly in order to do a mass recovery. But some accuracy of handling variables would also help. It is too much to ask a tool to spit out the original code. But what I have seen so far will compile but will not function properly, generics aside. So I suppose it's going to be a long week before Christmas!!
