Today Sun will announce a scripting language called JavaFX Script, that will allow developers to build rich Internet applications that will run in the Java runtime. Java FX Script will be part of the Java FX product line, that focuses on non enterprise applications. Java developers can use Java FX Script to create applications that are rendered with UI elements from Java Swing. The following video provides more information (via):

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There's also more information in this CNET story, as well as Ryan Stewart's blog.

Obviously we'll be hearing a lot more information about this in the next few days. What's the impact on RIA Developers? Well, Java developers now have a native option for developing RIAs, although one that continues to have some of the same problems that Java's already have (namely that it doesn't look that great, that there aren't great tools that integrate with industry standard design tools). Great user experiences don't come from software developers alone, and creating a new scripting language that makes it easier for Java developers doesn't mean that they'll be creating great new Java applications immediately. One of the reasons that Flash based RIAs work so well is because entire teams with various skills can use similiar products to deveop them. Designers can work closely with developers and user experience experts to build out great applications, and they currently use Adobe tools to build these. Developers that I've worked with in the past didn't create great user experiences, regardless of the language that they were using. They put red and green buttons in the UI, waiting for the designers to finalize the look of the application.

Microsoft does seem to get it - they're creating a new set of tools (Expression) that appeal to designers in addition to their Silverlight offering. Sun seems to be missing that critical piece.