Delphi RoadMap thoughts Sep 29, 2005 11:00
I'm very pleased to see the Delphi Roadmap. Borland deserves all the accolades they are receiving at the moment. I'm much more hopeful about Delphi's future.
I want to express my honest thanks to all of the people within Borland that made this happen: John Kaster, Anders Ohlsson, David I, Michael Swindell, Jason Vokes, Danny Thorpe, Allen Bauer, the Delphi R&D team and all those that work behind the scenes that we never see. Thank you.
I still have some concerns because previous statements have not been reconciled, they have just been overshadowed by good news. The how/why questions remain. However my previous assumptions about just how much of a pure-play ALM company Borland wants to be appear to be wrong. It appears they are comfortable pursuing a synergistic, profitable, but IMO, tangential Delphi business.
Looking at the Delphi Roadmap, I know it would not have been as well received if they didn't have a Win64 edition on it. In general, the timing of the various releases look to be on the backside of the adoption curve. Because of this, I think a preview of the Win64 compiler would be a very wise thing. Being on the backside of the adoption curve is good for mitigating ROI risk and keeping your existing customer base happy, but it's going to be hard to get new customers, especially with all the .NET releases in between the Win64 release.
I'm not saying that the .NET releases are not important; they are absolutely vital. Delphi would be in trouble if it didn't have a comprehensive .NET strategy. Free the Delphi for .NET compiler (license for royalty free distribution) and that will be even better.
Win64 is the only release on that Roadmap that has potential to convert new people to Delphi. It is here that Delphi can reap the benefits of its balance of power and ease of use. This, IMO, has been one of the distinguishing aspects of Delphi throughout the years.
A few random thoughts: 1) It is worth mentioning that Kylix and Linux is notably absent from the RoadMap. 2)A mixed-mode .NET/native Delphi compiler would kick ass; hopefully we'll get one if C++ progresses. 3) It's really great to see the embrace of Unicode in the future of the VCL.
I'm very glad to see the specific features in DeXter as well. Full Together support and pushing ECO down in all the SKU's was definitely the right thing to do. The focus on quality and performance enhancements are also welcome after Delphi 2005. The expanding list of bug fixes is impressive.
I want to acknowledge Allen Bauer's unofficial Delphi patches. This showed that Borland still has the guts to be Barbarians. I appreciate this kind of commitment to making things right.
I also want to say a few things regarding the Delphi R&D team. First and foremost: Thank you. I imagine that it hasn't been very pleasant recently due to internal and external events. I also know that our bitching doesn't help make you feel appreciated doing your job day in and day out. But I believe that we all just want what's best for Delphi and certain people in Borland needed to hear what we had to say.
I definitely have doubts about how unified Borland's management is in regards to Delphi. Especially in terms of funding and long term commitment to Delphi and the R&D Team if/when ALM/SDO becomes profitable. Regardless, I'm hopeful that Delphi is on the right track and that DeXter will be the release that makes me upgrade from Delphi 7.
Long live Delphi!
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