(CodeGear granted permission to post this blog with comments about the forthcoming Delphi 2007 for WIN32.)
The new Delphi 2007 is a Vista capable IDE. This is not only in a terms of running Delphi on the Vista platform, but also for preparing first class Vista enabled applications. The VCL framework has been extended to support Glass effects. Most importantly, with only a few changes to the form properties, your old Delphi code will compile under Delphi 2007 resulting in a real Glass application.
Looks good? Well, it's just the beginning. The biggest and most revolutionary change is the new DBX4. DBX4 is just totally rewritten much faster and more powerful. Read more about this at: http://blogs.codegear.com/SteveShaughnessy/. But do not worry - your old application will compile and run smooth on new DBX4 without problems.
Do you use IntraWeb? In Delphi 2007 you can find IntraWeb under the name "VCL for Web". As the name suggests, IntraWeb is now more tightly integrated with Delphi. Most important is the full AJAX support. And, as usual, an old app will compile without problems.
There are also a number of additional improvements - less obvious but very important:
- the build process utilizes MSBuild; so finally making complicated multitask build processes will be easier!
- the debugger has a number of enhancements; personally I just love the ability to set a breakpoint in a call stack window.
And probably the issue in which most developers will be most interested: stability. Well, I can't complain about this. For me Delphi 7 is stable as a rock, even at the current beta stage. And fast!
What about help? Help is back and better then ever before!
If you still use an obsolete version - like Delphi 7 or even earlier - Delphi 2007 is a must. Anyone using Delphi 2005 or 2006 for WIN32 development should upgrade as well. Your work will be faster and more robust.
Tomasz Kosinski
www.TatukGIS.com