Re: Version after Version

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 21:51:05 +0200, "Frank de Groot"
<franciad@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>"ProfitMaxTrading.com" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote
>
>>A new version out almost every year it appears. Is each new version
>> actually better than the last?

>Not always, sometimes not at all.

>> If you are a free-lance programmer as opposed
>> to working in a corporate enviroment, is it really worth paying the
>> upgrade
>> price every year or two?

>Only if you expect to earn the investment back. If you desperately need to
>make a .net version of your Pascal source, for example.
>When things aren't running slow enough, for example.

>> Is Version 7 the last strictly Win32 version in Delphi before getting into
>> the NET thingy?

>Yes.

>> If you program strictly client-side (on the PC) and like executables that
>> are not bloated, would sticking with an earlier version be better to use?

>Yes.

>> What version would that be?
>
>D7 or D5.
>
>
>> I've not been in the Borland world since 1994. Before then I was strictly
>> Borland (C++ and Delphi). Didn't even know they were still around as they
>> don't make much headlines as in the old days. MS this, MS that is all you
>> hear. So I'm probing the possibility of programming Delphi again. Just
>> want
>> to make sure also that I'm not going to waste time doing so if the company
>> is going belly up or support is diminishing.

>It is my conviction that Borland will be history soon.
>They don't have 64-bit support or Unicode support, they're dinosaurs.
>They've abandoned Delphi, they've abandoned native Windows development and
>put all eggs in the .net basket, and something called "ALM" (nothing to do
>with us developers).

>.net has failed on the desktop (and rightly so), meaning, only a miracle can
>save Borland. Delphi 7 is still usable for times to come, but not for the
>applications of the future. As for 64-bit support supposedly "on the
>roadmap", I believe it when I see it.

Surely after the major success of Kylix and the (soon) mega success of
Delphi.Net, they'll return to their roots ?

Ok - maybe they'll try one more avenue on the basis of 3rd time lucky.

While the move from 16 to 32 bit was of major significance, the
emergence of 64 bit processors strikes me as something of a yawn.

With the exception of one guy here, I've never run into a system that
really needs so much memory

I expect 'use' of the extended memory could be implemented quite
easily, simply by allocating different segments for different types of
data.

To my knowledge Delphi has had the WideString for quite some time, not
that one uses it much.

My guess is that if Borland really finds itself in trouble, they'll
break whatever cover agreement they have with MS and come out with a
BASIC version of Delphi, a bit like C++ Builder
- that would be a World beater
- especially if it were integrated into existing Delphi, so one could
combine the languages in the same project


.

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