Is the Expansion of JavaFX Too Late?

JavaFX will be getting some more spotlight at this year's JavaONE conference. But is it too little, too late? A year has passed since the initial announcement, and now developers are to be treated with a selection of new profiles in JavaFX.

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The list of profiles is both predictable and sensible, with JavaFX Desktop and JavaFX Mobile as the main players, along with profiles for phones and set top boxes. These profiles won't all be released simultaneously as there are some outstanding issues to be resolved with the APIs which should be provided. The NetBeans platform will be leveraged to provide tools for creating JavaFX applications.

Given the original plans for the Java language in general, shouldn't this have been something that was covered straight away with the release of JavaFX. Apparently, the profiles will not obstruct the aims of JavaME, but will sit on top of the micro edition architecture and eventually merge.

It's difficult to see JavaFX as a true RIA contender to Adobe AIR and Microsoft's Silverlight. But it's good to be hopeful. In an Infoworld article Ed Klein, VP of marketting at Sun, claims that users have been waiting for Java to enter the RIA market in full force and that Java is to be the platform for the screens of your life.

What do you think? Can JavaFX become the standard choice for RIA development? Are the profiles too late in an already crowded RIA space?