I don't think the comparison is new Java to old Java, I think it's Java vs. it's competitors.
When Java was new, scripting/dynamic languages hadn't matured enough to be true competitors so you were left with C/C++, Delphi and the like. In that landscape, Java is beyond exciting.
Nowadays there are so many alternatives that didn't exist then. And it's not debatable that many of those languages (Dart, C#, Typescript, Kotlin) move faster when it comes to language features. Whether you want/need them is subjective, sure. But back in the day Java was that hot, fast moving language.
When Java was new, scripting/dynamic languages hadn't matured enough to be true competitors so you were left with C/C++, Delphi and the like. In that landscape, Java is beyond exciting.
Nowadays there are so many alternatives that didn't exist then. And it's not debatable that many of those languages (Dart, C#, Typescript, Kotlin) move faster when it comes to language features. Whether you want/need them is subjective, sure. But back in the day Java was that hot, fast moving language.