> cold hard reality is that if we divulge too much too soon, sales of the
> current product tank, layoffs happen, pay is cut and we are left with
That depends only on what each release delivers. If a release is just useful to fix the bugs of the previous two, and delivers very little more, yes, people will wait. I would have upgraded instantly if D2010 had a DCOM-free *real* remoting framework. Unluckily I need AD authentication/authorization and communication protection - which DCOM has. My company is still on D2007 and it's up to me to decide when to upgrade - or to switch to something else.
Because I can't see what direction Delphi is taking *really*, I have issue to decide what to do. Is upgrading to D2010 worth it? Should we go full Unicode with Delphi or wait, because if the direction it takes diverges from ours we could be forced switch to something else, and the expense of upgrading - including all third party tools used -, and updating code doesn't pay off? I don't know, and I am forced to plan defensively, because the risk is getting too high for us.
Maybe if you divulge too little too late, sales tank too, because you really ask for a "faith" that wasn't supported by "miracles" in the recent years.
> The problem was that it took way too many resources from our core product,
And you repeated this problem with Delphi.NET. Now Delphi developers need sound solutions and some real hints about the future of the tool, because it is becoming very difficult to "sell" it to upper management.