I wouldn't say that Sun relies on NetBeans in their tutorials as much as references NetBeans because NetBeans is Sun's IDE.
I use Eclipse for my Java development. A good IDE can help you with the busy work, so you can focus on the problem at hand.
If you want to learn Swing, I recommend The Definitive Guide to Java Swing, Third Edition. This book takes you step by step through layouts and widgets, using and reinforcing the MVC pattern of GUI development.
For the advanced Swing developers, I recommend Swing Hacks: Tips and Tools for Killer GUIs. This book shows you some tricks to make your GUI pop.
