> > 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.
Fair enough. We always know that only a certain percentage of the
customer base upgrades each cycle. If it's not a compelling upgrade for
you, I can respect that.
> 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 opposite has been proven time and time again. I've not seen the
reverse be the case. We try and balance the level of detail we give
about future plans with our need to keep current sales as strong as
possible. In many ways, we try and only divulge enough information to
make sure we can *support* the sales of the curent release and not have
the opposite effect.
> > 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.
If we were perfect, we wouldn't be having this conversation, no? :-). I
doubt anyone here can claim perfection either. I also don't think that
anyone elses' crystal ball is any more clear. Only time will tell
whether or not doing xplat proves to be wrong. Not that we're
"guessing" or "speculating" at all, but the ultimate test will be when
we look back at the decision.
--
Allen Bauer
Embarcadero Chief Scientist
http://blogs.embarcadero.com/abauer