By adding this     "public class drend extends DefaultTableCellRenderer {
        public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object
value, boolean isSelected, boolean hasFocus, int row, int column) {
            setText(value.toString());
            return this;
        }
    }"

I got what I wanted!

Thanks,
Abbas

import java.awt.Component;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Date;
import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTable;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableCellRenderer;
import javax.swing.table.DefaultTableModel;
import javax.swing.table.TableCellRenderer;

public class tableTest {
    public JFrame mainFrame = new JFrame("Java Task Manager");
    public JPanel mainPanel = new JPanel();
    public JTable mainTable = new JTable();
    public DefaultTableModel defaultTableModel = new DefaultTableModel(){
        public Class getColumnClass(int c){
            return  getValueAt(0,c).getClass();
        }
    };

    public class CustomDate extends Date {

        public CustomDate(){

        }
        public CustomDate(long arg0){
            super(arg0);
        }
        public String toString(){
            SimpleDateFormat sl = new SimpleDateFormat("H:m | dd-MMM-yyyy");
            return sl.format(this);
        }
    }

    public class drend extends DefaultTableCellRenderer {
        public Component getTableCellRendererComponent(JTable table, Object
value, boolean isSelected, boolean hasFocus, int row, int column) {
            setText(value.toString());
            return this;
        }
    }

    public void showUI(){
        mainFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        mainFrame.getContentPane().add(mainPanel);
        mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel,BoxLayout.X_AXIS));
        mainPanel.setLayout(new BoxLayout(mainPanel,BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
        mainPanel.add(new JScrollPane(mainTable));
        mainTable.setModel(defaultTableModel);
        String[] cid = {"Name","Date"};
        defaultTableModel.setColumnIdentifiers(cid);
        String[] nms = {"a","ss","de","des","fes"};
        Calendar cl = Calendar.getInstance();
        Date[] dts = new Date[5];
        //1
        cl.set(2008, Calendar.JANUARY, 1, 12, 44);
        dts[0] = new CustomDate(cl.getTimeInMillis());
        //2
        cl.set(2008, Calendar.FEBRUARY, 22, 10, 12);
        dts[1] = new CustomDate(cl.getTimeInMillis());
        //3
        cl.set(2008, Calendar.MARCH, 1, 1, 2);
        dts[2] = new CustomDate(cl.getTimeInMillis());
        //4
        cl.set(2008, Calendar.APRIL, 1, 1, 32);
        dts[3] = new CustomDate(cl.getTimeInMillis());
        //5
        cl.set(2008, Calendar.MAY, 1, 13, 14);
        dts[4] = new CustomDate(cl.getTimeInMillis());
        for(int i=0;i<5;i++){
            Object[] ob= {nms[i],dts[i]};
            defaultTableModel.addRow(ob);
        }

        mainTable.setDefaultRenderer(Date.class, new drend());
        //TablemainTable.getColorModel() getColumn(1).setHeaderRenderer(new
drend());
        mainTable.setAutoCreateRowSorter(true);
        mainFrame.pack();
        mainFrame.setResizable(false);
        mainFrame.setVisible(true);
    }
    /**
    * @param args
    */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // TODO Auto-generated method stub
        tableTest ts = new tableTest();
        ts.showUI();
    }
}

John,

Since I want the table to sortable by date, I have to implement the
getColumnClass() that way (I dont know any other better way!).
Otherwise the column gets sorted as a string not as a date.

Thanks,
Abbas