I want to be careful what I post here.
1. Fred wants playtesters to discuss DFRPG and "get the word out".
2. Fred does not want too much information leaked and I'm under a NDA agreement not to spill any real secrets.

Having said those things, here are a few thoughts I have at the moment based on my playtest experince so far. I believe that nothing I reveal will be a secret, and will intentionally remain somewhat vague:

1. Go buy Spirit of the Century. Right now. If you don't buy it, at least download the SRD for SotC. I felt that I had a decent understanding of SotC until I really played it, and now I realize that it really makes more sense in action. The DFRPG will be very similar to SotC, so what are you waiting for?

2. The DFRPG is similar to, but not exactly the same as SotC. Start with SotC right away, however, to make the "learning curve" better later on. Some of the skills/stunts/aspects have changed a bit, but the vocabulary of FATE can be heavy if you don't spend some time absorbing it. That's why you want to start right now. That way, when the DFRPG comes out you'll be ready and the transition will be small.

3. FATE is really the way to play in the Dresdenverse. I know that I've been trying other game systems to simulate DF for a while now, but I can really feel things starting to click here. The FATE system is detailed enough to do what you want, but simple enough to allow you to play without heavy reliance on the rulebook. When I got my players to use skills/stunts/aspects, I would just ask "what do you think it does?" rather than consult the rulebook all the time and the whole thing runs so smoothly. I know in general how the system works, but the players can pick up what they need to know in a hurry and without huge prep on my part.

4. Fred and Rob do an excellent job of constructing a doccument. I know I've said this in other threads, but when I read the DF playtest docs or read SotC I keep saying to myself "Wow. I knew this, but it becomes so much more clear this way!" Every time I read SotC again I find some new nugget of wisdom that I missed the time before.

5. Maybe it's just that my group has done Swords-and-sorcery fantasy so much lately, but my players keep bugging me about running more Dresden sessions. And some of them haven't read the books or watched the TV show!

6. The playtest docs are clearly a ways away from being a final product, but everything I have seen so far seems to point to a really fantastic RPG when this is finished.

Thanks for the info. This gives me a starting point... 

Not to de-rail or hijack this thread, but when you are in between DF books, look up some Constantine.  There are a couple of novels and dozens of graphic novels.  Very gritty, very harsh, but very very good.  I really recommend them.

Could you recommend any in particular? Whe I look on the shelf in my bookstore they seem to have several and I'd rather start with either (a) the "first" one to see how the series starts out, or (b) the best ones.

Another idea might be one set around the time of the Revolutionary War in the Boston area...

An interesting resource for this might be a (new?) RPG called Colonial Gothic which uses the notion that there are supernatural nasties in the 1776 era.

I ordered a copy on a hunch, but it might turn out to be a dud. It uses a game system I'm not familiar with (with a d12) but I'm hoping that the book itself provides useful period information.

If there's interest I can look for a link, or review the book once I get it.

Magic rules and character advancement seem to be the major issues to work out in a Dresden game.

Yep. It's the magic rules that will make or break the DFRPG, which is why it's so important to get it right. We know that FATE works, but it's the magic system that will need exhaustive playtest.

Character advancement is always a function of where the character begins. If the intent is to start out experienced wizards, aged vampires, or whatever, then advancement is a secondary issue because the characters have already reached some level of apex.

On the other hand, if the intent is to start with novice-level characters then advancement is crititcal to the game. Your example of Billy the Were is a great one, because as the books continue we see an evolution of his character from a lost youth into a competent combatant. Molly Carpenter shows us another case of a character starting out confused by the magical world around her, and (we assume) slowly building into a qualified wizard. If rules for this sort of progression aren't carefully balanced, the game sort of crumbles with time.

I think the system's lack of hard and fast numbers is plus to working out unusual stuff.

It should be an advantage, as long as there are no clear ways to "break" the system. Based on my SOTC games, FATE3 would seem to be ready for the challenge.

I am trying to make a "Harryesque" game using a combo of the old " Call of Cthulhu ' and the new D20 "C of C" . So I am waiting  for the new game, badly!

I'm curious as to how this has worked out, since the philosophy behind CoC and DF are so divergent.

CoC puts an emphasis on mundanes searching for clues that Nasty Things really exist, and their struggle to understand them. The magic systems of both versions aren't really designed to allow for much magic use by characters.

As posted in another thread, you might look at "Monte Cook's World of Darkness" if you want to insert d20 systems into the Dresdenverse. MCWoD is more supernatural in theme.

Nah, that part's not that hard, it's just the volume. 

Pretty easy to identify a spam when someone gives a single word name and fills every field in the form with 'rgerger' over and over again.

Hope it's not me you're talking about. My last name is Rgerger and I live on Rgerger Street. I don't want my application to be rejected becasue of that! 

I tell them to look at having this Flaw as a mental challenge, find unusual ways around it, as well as finding new ways to use it against other people

That's an excellent viewpoint. Presented as such, I think that my players will have a lot more fun with the Dresdenverse. They seem to find a lot of fun in outwitting my NPCs, and having to outwit technology could be fun as well.

Another advantage is that if cameras and cell phones don't work around you, then survalence tapes and tracking "bugs" won't be a problem either.