Errors and unchecked Exceptions in Java should not be confused. An Error is typically reserved for the runtime environment for a "this ship is sinking, abandon all hands" kind of unrecoverable error. More properly Exceptions in execution that aren't checked in Java extend RuntimeException and not Error.

The stigma that Java has too many checked exceptions is no longer true with modern Java code. Everyone is using unchecked children of RuntimeException almost exclusively. Of course, there is still plenty of legacy code out there using outdated checked exception paradigms.