Using: TweenMax 1.14.1
The TweenMax docs say that setting TweenMax.defaultEase sets the default easing on TweenMax tweens. As far as I can tell, it doesn't work. Instead, it seems, I need to set TweenLite.defaultEase.
(I've also noted that the default for TweenMax.defaultEase is undefined, but the default for TweenLite.defaultEase is Power1.easeOut.)
It seems like this is a bug either in the docs or in the code.
Nah, you'd probably never notice a real-world difference but technically TweenLite's render method is slightly faster just because it doesn't have the conditional logic for repeats/yoyos. I'm in the habit of using TweenLite always unless I need a TweenMax feature, but that's only because I'm a performance nut. Again, I highly doubt you'd ever even notice a difference if you're tweening 1000 things simultaneously. You don't need to feel hesitant about using TweenMax.