So what is JavaFX going to be offering above and beyond what it’s existing competitors (Flash/Flex, Silverlight) are already providing?
Additionally, is there a JavaFX oriented plan to get Java 6 out to the masses?
Kev
I was thinking “performance” might be one trick they can pull out of the bag there. Hopefully it’ll be hotspotted to high heaven and faster than a greased weasel.
Cas 
So, I guess thats another question, is JavaFX script compiled down to bytecode or is it run through some Java based engine? (which no doubt will take a few years to mature and become performant)
Looking at this project https://openjfx-compiler.dev.java.net/ it seems like it’s considered a good idea to compile to byte code but it’s not implemented yet - so I guess for the present the target is a JavaFX engine?
Kev
the preview release already compiles to bytecode. Most of the demos you see online already use compiled JavaFX script.
Ah, thats cool then. The compiler page says only a subset works at the moment, does that mean the demos we’re seeing only show a subset of whats available so far?
It’s this bit that confused me:
Kev
I don’t know how up to date the info is (java.net projects are usually updated infrequently @see nimbus l&f project)
But try it yourself (works only with nb 6.1):
http://deadlock.netbeans.org/hudson/job/JavaFX_NB_daily/
open a sample project, build and finally decompile
issue tracker with a lot of info between the lines (login required):
http://openjfx.java.sun.com/jira/secure/Dashboard.jspa
alot has been improved in fx 1.0 - way faster, but it still i’ve on top of java2d at this time. but saying that the draw work that has been done with fx 1.0 has some slick optimizations. there is a lot of polishing to get the goods out to everyone. what does it add beyond Flash and Silverlight, well its JavaFX innit 
oh good place to find out what we are working on at the moment within our team is on chris’s blog:
http://blogs.sun.com/chrisoliver/
the hardware accel stuff is really fun btw.