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  • Delphi XE 2 is Finally Here!

    Well Embarcadero just made it official a few days ago that they were releasing Delphi XE 2 right away. You can now go to their online store and purchase a copy of the new cutting edge Delphi product. It's Professional version supports 32-bit & 64-bit Windows and cross-compiling to Mac OS X and iOS with the help of some other tools. It may not be everything the entire Delphi community has been asking for, but it's a huge step in the right direction of what they've been asking for. It's also been noted as the biggest step that the developers of Delphi have taken in revolutionizing the tried and true tool in the years since it's creation.






    To create OS X apps you will require a 3rd party set of tools to be setup on both your Windows system running Delphi XE2 and a machine running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or better, each with a network app that will transfer your executable to the target machine.

    iOS app creation seems to be a bit simpler. It uses Free Pascal to do the processor-specific (ARM) part of the compilation so that it can be transferred to your iOS device using Xcode. Development on a Mac isn't an easy process anyhow, but at least this makes the process a it smoother.

    Windows 64-bit seems to be the easiest out of the bunch of very obvious reasons as it's already running on a Windows machine that it most likely a 64-bit OS such as Windows 7 or the previous version Vista. Rejoice Windows users, you get the best part of the XE2 deal.

    There is a new set of controls to handle targeting of your platforms, for those that have Professional or above. You can choose from either one of the four possible targets available in XE2. This integrates well into it's newer IDE design since a few versions ago.

    The entire XE2 line of tools also introduces a brand new framework that is able to do much more than the existing VCL components that Delphi is famous for. Hardware accelerated, OpenGL based and 3D object based graphics will be introduced into this new and exciting for of GUI design. It's more geared towards cutting edge form design than the kind of graphics that a game developer would hope to use, but it could still be used in making games with it to some extent.

    The framework will available and usable on Windows, Mac OS X and iOS targeted platforms with Delphi and C++ Builder. It will also be the only framework with which you can make a common GUI on all platforms as well. It would be interesting to see what can be done with it by a game developer instead of a business app developer.



    FireMonkey Developers Talk About New Framework


    There are a lot of new things added to Delphi XE2 that don't really relate to games development, but I'll not list them here, Instead I'll leave that for you to search out in the provided link. You can look them up in the feature matrix document they provide on their product information page of their site. It'll list what is offered in all different editions and when they were added to Delphi.


    Unfortunately Starter Edition users will not be able to partake in 64-bit, Mac OS X or iOS as they have decided to take out cross-compiling from the indie level edition of their development tool. Seeing as both the Starter Edition and these new platform targets s are new to Delphi, it's unclear as to why Embarcadero would make this decision.

    Delphi Professional is offered at $899 (new) and $499 USD. (upgrade) Delphi Starter Edition is offered at $199 (new) and $149 USD. (upgrade/competitive upgrade) Existing Delphi XE Starter owners can upgrade to Delphi XE2 Professional at $100 of the new user price. See the Embarcadero store for exact pricing for your region here.


    You can read more about Delphi XE2 and the rest of the exciting stuff going on at Embarcadero at www.embarcadero.com.


    Blogs About Delphi XE2 & FireMonkey

    Hands on with Delphi XE2 for Apple iOS by Tim Anderson
    some reflections on #Delphi #FireMonkey support for #iOS by Jeroen Pluimers
    GLScene source code used in FireMonkey? by Eric Grange
    Want more…Satisfaction by David Intersimone (David I.)
    FireMonkey Video Beta Blog by Marco Cantu
    RAD Studio XE2 – Setting it up for a Mac (step-by-step illustrated guide) by Simon Stuart
    New Mac and Rad Studio XE2 by Robert Love



    Delphi XE2 & FireMonkey Multi-Platform Promotional Video



    Comments 3 Comments
    1. paul_nicholls's Avatar
      paul_nicholls -
      May Delphi/Object Pascal live long and prosper! haha

      cheers,
      Paul
    1. Murmandamus's Avatar
      Murmandamus -
      I'd buy it if they included the "Software Assurance" thing in the purchase price for up to one year. Having to buy that in addition just to get updates is not economically feasible (read: rip off).
    1. farcodev's Avatar
      farcodev -
      Same for me, and the 64 bits isn't even included in the Starter Edition (i don't care of FM as it is for now).

      I see now that the pro edition is at $912.54 here, again a bit too much for an opensource dev