Delphi 2010, Delphi XE and XE2: A comparison of features

Delphi 2010 vs older versions

Delphi 2010 Release Date: August 25, 2009

Delphi 2010 witnessed a lot of improvements and new features as compared to its older versions. Some of features are listed below:

 

1. Delphi 2010 included a new compiler run-time type information (RTTI) system
2. Support for Windows 7 direct 2D
3. Touch screen and gestures
4. Source code formatter
5. Debugger visualizers
6. Option to also have the old style component palette in the IDE

Note:  Because of the use of Unicode as the default string type, Windows 98, 95, and ME will not run applications produced with Delphi 2009 or later. These operating systems do not support Unicode strings, and Microsoft has dropped support for them. Applications built with Delphi XE2, XE, 2010 and 2009 and VCL will run on Windows 2000 or later.

Comparison between Delphi 2010 and Delphi XE

Delphi XE Release Date: August 30, 2010

Only few enhancements were done in Delphi XE as compared to Delphi 2010. Thats why Delphi XE did not gain much success. Some of the enhancements are listed below:

1. Some IDE fixes were done in Delphi XE which made the IDE faster
2. Some additional third party tools were added in Delphi XE to enhance the capabilities of Delphi
3. No support for Win64 platform in both of them
4. No Mac OSX support in both of them

Comparison between Delphi XE and Delphi XE2

Delphi XE2 Release Date: September 1, 2011

Very much successful release of Embarcadero. Delphi XE2 coexists nicely with earlier versions of RAD Studio, C++Builder and Delphi. A lot of industries and migrating to Delphi XE2 because of its exciting features:

1. Delphi XE2 supports Win64 native development which will make your application faster
2. Delphi XE2 supports Mac OSX native development
3. Delphi XE2 is supplied with both the VCL, and an alternative library called FireMonkey that supports Windows, Apple Mac OS X and the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad portable devices.
4. New naming scheme for the units
5. ODBC dbExpress driver support
6. Extensions to the REST support layer
7. Improved Cloud support
8. Improved RTTI (run-time type information)
9. Cross platform support
10. Little migration issues encountered
11. The DataSnap Mobile Connector feature: The DataSnap Mobile Connector feature generates connectivity code that you can incorporate into mobile applications for iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7. You develop your mobile applications using the standard development tools and languages for each platform such as Objective C with the Xcode IDE for iOS, Java for Android and Blackberry, or Silverlight for Windows Phone 7. You then use the DataSnap Mobile Connector code to provide connectivity to your native C++Builder or Delphi DataSnap server. You can create a single application and deploy to 32-bit Windows, 64-bit Windows and Mac OS X. To create an iOS application, you create a separate project type that is exported and built with Xcode.

Difference in Delphi XE2 Professional and Enterprise Edition:

Delphi XE2 Enterprise Edition contains some extra features which are not present in Delphi XE2 Professiona Edition like:

1. Datasnap
2. DBExpress Driver Support for OSX, Firebird, Oracle, MSSQL, Informix
3. Advanced UML and Code Analysis Tools
4. FinalBuilder

Limitations of Delphi XE2:

1. Applications for 64-bit platforms can be compiled, but not tested or run, on the 32-bit platform.
2. FireMonkey and VCL are not compatible, one or the other must be used, and older VCL applications cannot use Firemonkey unless user interfaces are recreated with FireMonkey forms and controls.
3. Applications built with Delphi XE2 and FireMonkey will run on Windows XP and later.
4. Delphi XE2 uses the MSBuild system for the build engine, and thus requires a new project file if you are upgrading from version 2007 or earlier. However, the IDE will seamlessly update your projects to the new format.

Waiting for Delphi XE3 which may out in a month or two......