Currently you can turn on FPS logging using a logging property as detailed in this issue:

 http://javafx-jira.kenai.com/browse/RT-997

However, this requires having a properly configured local logging.properties file which is then pointed to by a system property. This system works fine while developing in NetBeans but isn't useful for applets deployed in the field. There should be a simple system property or applet parameter which will turn on printing the FPS to STDOUT. This will let anyone with a JavaFX applet easily turn on FPS printing.