Multiple applets, single JVM == out of memory

Question

Consider the following applet (MS IE 6, JRE 1.4.2_04)
public class DgAppletTest extends JApplet
double nums[];
public void init() {
nums = new double[10000000];
public void start() {
public void stop() {
public void destroy() {
This does nothing except allocate a large array. When this is delivered to the browser as part of an html page, a JVM instance is created and so on. The plug in control panel confirms the memory usage. When the user closes the browser window, the applet is "destroyed" but curiously the memory is not gc'ed. The next time the page is delivered the same JVM is used with the current memory situation. The result is that very soon the memory is exhausted.
Once upon a time, Microsoft launched each browser instance into a separate process. No longer, although there is a registry hack to make it do so. When as a separate process, each browser window instantiates a new JVM. In this scenario, there's no problem. However, hacking the registry is not a solution, nor is telling the end user to modify JVM startup parameters.
So, what am I not doing? (calling the gc within the applet has no effect on this). What's the trick to get the JVM to actually destroy the destroyed applet?
Thanks

Answer 1

http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=605153&messageID=3276004
Quote from another thread:
Objects are never null. Only references can be null. If you set the only reachable
reference to the object to null (or to any value other than pointing at that object), then the
object becomes eligible to be garbage collected. When--or if--it actually gets cleaned up
is beyond your control, but it's guaranteed to happen if the memory is needed.
Which is basacally the same as what this tells you:
http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/ALT/RefObj/
under
Softly Reachable