June 23, 2008
There was a recent flurry of Delphi 2007 updates worth noticing... even though most of them are minor issues.
There was a recent flurry of Delphi 2007 updates from CodeGear worth noticing... even though most of them are minor issues. All of this updates can be downloaded from the Delphi 2007 or RAD Studio 2007 registered users download page (provided you login and you are a registered users of the product):
The Help update has limited new information, but still worth the long downlaod (in my opinion), something you can also achieve by running the "Check for Updates" program of the CodeGear RAD Studio programs group. The linker update seems to be a C++Builder specific issue (but I might be wrong). The GIF and JPEG support can be handy (you get the "Extras" folder of past versions of Delphi) but some sort of readme or description would have been handy. The license update adds distribution rights for a .NET database access file.
Even if these updates are far from terrific, the fact that CodeGear is investing time on those while somewhat busy with many other things (Embarcadero, Tiburon) is a positive sign.
posted by
marcocantu @ 6:34PM | 7 Comments
[0 Pending]
7 Comments
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
Stil few minor fixes that don't address the big
issues of RAD 2007 (i.e. localization, almost totally
broken). Given the changes Tiburon will introduce,
IMHO RAD 2007 would deserve a real update pack.
Comment by Luigi D. Sandon on June 24, 11:07
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
So, Marco, you think that the fact that CodeGear
hasn't abandoned Delphi 2007 a year after its release
is a positive sign? This really highlights how poor
their support is (and has been for a long time).
Personally I'd quite like to see another update to
Delphi 2006 to iron out some of the remaining issues
(although I know this will never happen).
I'll be waiting to see how long it takes CodeGear to
stop updating 2007 before deciding to purchase any
future versions of Delphi.
Comment by Joe on June 24, 14:44
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
I just don't get the negative thinking.
There are parts of the IDE/Language/Compiler/etc...
that will most likely never be updated, maybe
replaced, but not seriously updated. I am alright with
that. Frankly I would rather have the limited
resources at CodeGear working on new features like
Unicode, Multi Core, and Cross Platform Compilers,
then on fixing old IDEs.
Lets face it, in the current CodeGear model the best
updates are the releases of new versions. Like it or
not Software Assurance is your best way to go.
You can lament the lack of legacy product updates if
it makes you happy, but I don't think you will get any
better service from another IDE vendor.
Comment by Michael on June 25, 03:09
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
>Even if these updates are far from terrific
Actually, the linker bug is a major, major bug that it
is great to have resolved. It is definitely a
terrific fix! You might not have been aware of this
if you don't use C++Builder for large projects - but
it is a great fix to finally have.
(I agree backporting it to BDS2006 might please some
people, too. But I'm just happy to see they're
working on, and fixing, this kind of thing.)
Comment by David M on June 25, 04:09
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
"Lets face it, in the current CodeGear model the best
updates are the releases of new versions. Like it or
not Software Assurance is your best way to go."
Sorry, but for complex projects this model does not
work at all, SA or not.
I can't change Delphi release in the middle of
project just to get some fixes, because it means
waiting for 3rd party libraries being available (and
often paying for new releases as well), porting of
existing internal libraries, and a whole retest (new
bugs could be introduced - and often happened).
Frankly, I'd prefer longer release cycles and interim
service packs (ready to pay for support) to fix
current issues without "breaking changes" and new
issues.
I don't care of new features if the "old" ones are
still shaky, unfinished, unreliable or broken. That
is the model that made the last four releases a
nightmare.
And this model is one of the reasons Delphi looks
unreliable to upper management. Mine is really tired
of hearing "this does not work in this release - when
will it be fixed? we need to wait for the next
release to get it working".
Check for example Sybase's Powerbuilder support:
http://www.sybase.com/detail?id=1034764
I understand CodeGear resources issues, but CodeGear
should understand customer issues too - as long as
they want to be a *professional developers* supplier.
Supporting the current release and the previous one,
backporting fixes, would be a strong selling
advantage, IMHO. Upgrades would become more
appealing, when the risk to buy a useless "Delphi
2005" is little.
Comment by Luigi D. Sandon on June 25, 18:47
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
"Sorry, but for complex projects this model does not
work at all, SA or not."
It is the model my company has used with Delphi since
Delphi 1. I am not advocating changing IDE revisions
mid development cycle. I know that can be a problem.
We have specific internal releases for that task here.
I am also not advocating that CodeGear ignore unstable
features as they got forward. I do think that they
should spend an amount of time fixing the older
features as they work towards the next build, and not
just introduce new ones. I think D2007 went a long way
along this path.
"I understand CodeGear resources issues, but CodeGear
should understand customer issues too - as long as
they want to be a *professional developers* supplier."
I think they do understand customers issues. Look at
QualityCentral. Of the top 9 issues all but 2 are
requests for new features. So from thCodeGear point of
view by focusing on new features they are paying
attention to the customer issues.
Maybe with EMBT owning CodeGear the Release/Update
cycle will change, but I doubt it, EMBT appears to use
the same subscription service for update cycles.
I mean no offense, just how I see things.
Comment by Michael on June 25, 23:11
June 08 Delphi 2007 Updates
"Look at QualityCentral. Of the top 9 issues all but
2 are requests for new features."
I do not know if that's a good statistical analysis -
don't know how many people reviews single bugs and
vote on them - especially in the past when votes are
limited - I did it only sometimes due to the time
needed - and I'm in the "top ten" per number of
reports, submitting a good report is a time consuming
activity, no much left to review other ones unless
they hit us badly.
It's much easier to vote for new well known and long
awaited features like "generic", "64 bits"
and "firebird driver" (the latter it's a good open
source project candidate - why no one starts it and
everybody wants it from CodeGear?).
I am not saying that some of those new features are
much needed - but too often Delphi run too much
forward leaving big holes behind. Resources should be
balanced between the two tasks - new releases and
fetures, and mainenance of current version.
Comment by Luigi D. Sandon on June 27, 00:30
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