FSU has tens of thousands of applications to review, and does not have rolling admissions so what exactly are you getting at? They have the date of notification listed, it isn’t some secret. If you didn’t want to wait for the notification on the date listed, don’t apply. The wait sucks, sure, but you accept it when you apply.
FSU updates their computer systems to process billings, holds, and all that at certain times throughout the day. One of the ways to find out “early” if you were accepted is whether you have a tuition deposit on your account online once FSU updates all of their systems.
It isn’t early in that people are going to find out in December instead of late January, but it is a few hours before the decisions are made public.
It’s not half. The first decision date is a much larger percentage of the acceptance than the second decision date, which is why FSU stresses the importance of getting your application in by the first deadline.