Light Edition of Delphi at a Low Cost

[noeska]

Ok things that can be left out of delphi 2009.
- Rave Reports
- Lite version of install shield application / installaware
- Vcl for the web (aka all iw controlls) / websnap / internet express
- Ribbon controls
- Teechart Std.
- icon collections
- Interbase components
- dbGO (dao / msaccess)
- Indy components (but i do want to be able add indy components from the latest source version)
- Internet components (see Indy remark)
- BDE ( who is still using it? )
- Win3.1 components ( who is still using it? )
- Version Control
- Data Explorer
- Delphi Class Explorer
- c++ builder
- delphi prism
- rad studio command prompt
- remote debugger
- doc o matic express version

Things that should stay
- Data Controls
- Data Access
- Dialogs
- System
- Win32
- Additional
- Standard
- Webservices
- Debugging


Things i am in doubt on:
- Allow to install componts from source / use packages (my only need is sqlite/indy components)
- dbExpress as i do want to be able to add an sqlite database in an easy way. (support for backfish sql / interbase and datasnap may be dropped) ( or but better i want to use an sqlite database with the data access components)
- Refactoring ( i use it often, but with care i can do without it)
- SVN support that suposedly is added in delphi xe (would be nice, but we have lived without it)
- Offline help / documentation
- source of supplied components

Ok shoot on it :-)

Also i am curious what do the free ms ide tools bring?

[WILL]

That's a great breakdown. I have a feeling what they may try to do is keep things that are symbolic and characteristic of Delphi, such as the IDE and the core VCL, and a few things that they have just put in and want them to get popular, such as SVN and Cloud functionality and maybe even some of the re-factoring.

The Educational version could have similar restrictions such as what the old Turbo Pascal educational compiler did. It told everyone that it was an educational version and software made with it should not be sold and to report it. I'm not sure it if was TP or another compiler I'm thinking of but, I remember such a compiler registered with the name of the school so it was easier to catch where the program came from.

I've played with the free Visual Studio offerings for C# some time ago out of curiosity. It's like C trying to be Delphi, which is kind of funny. Some of the ideas are cool, but they are building on the messy foundation that is C, which is it's main problem. Lots of files just to start with instead of a unified set of code to extend from. Some people seem happy to deal with it, but for this coder, I'm far less impressed than others seem to be. C I'm sure is still C under the VS umbrella.