Eclipse 4.2 Juno default configuration is very slow - how to make it a little faster

Eclipse 3.x series performed pretty good enough that I use it for XML and Python editing. But the latest Eclipse 4.2 Juno release is pretty slow on virtual machines. Few minor tweaks made it bearable for me.

Open Preferences dialog (Window | Preferences). Expand to General | Appearance, then change Theme to Classic and disable Enable animations.

Preferences - Theme to Classic