I didn't want to say anything until I was certain, which I still am not. So that's still the official word. But now there's a much better chance that it won't be the final word.
From what I've heard, using the sample characters might be wise. When somebody here tried to start up a Dresden RPG group a few weeks ago, he allocated the entire first session to character creation. I don't know whether that was really necessary in the end, but that was the GM's plan going in.