This shift is becoming increasingly important as development on the .NET Framework becomes more widespread. According to industry analyst firm Gartner, by mid-2004 most mainstream organisations anticipate undertaking serious efforts to migrate Win32 and Component Object Model (COM) applications that are expected to be in use beyond 2007, to the Microsoft .NET Framework (1).

"Microsoft's strategic direction for developers is managed code - built on the .NET Framework today and on WinFX in Windows 'Longhorn' time frame," said John Montgomery, director for the Developer and Platform Evangelism Division at Microsoft Corp.

"Delphi developers have been leaders in the Windows developer community since Borland launched the first Delphi product in 1995. Now, with the introduction of Delphi 8, Borland is outlining a clear path for the future of Delphi development and also allows for the easier migration to managed code."

This latest edition of the award-winning Delphi development environment offers full support for all .NET Framework classes. Developers can use their existing Delphi language and framework skills to build .NET Framework-based applications. Additionally, developers can apply most of their existing investments in Delphi application source code and skills to simplify the migration of Windows applications to the .NET Framework.

"Borland remains committed to assisting enterprises in leveraging their technology investments," said Simon Thornhill, vice-president and general manager of .NET solutions at Borland. "With this launch, we are providing the Delphi community a pure Delphi, pure .NET Framework solution that allows development teams to move forward with development for the .NET Framework while increasing the reliability, security and interoperability of Delphi-based applications."

"As a hi-tech consulting company specialising in engineering services and products for the US government and private industry, it is critical that we are armed with the latest development solutions," commented Chris Dickerson, senior developer for Technology Service Corporation. "The combination of Delphi and the .NET Framework enables us to take our clients to a more secure and reliable platform and provide them with robust, rich and reliable Delphi applications they are accustomed to."

Features and benefits

Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework is designed to enable:

Rapid development of rich and reliable applications with:

* Microsoft ASP.NET Web Forms and XML Web services for robust Web development.

* Windows Forms and Visual Control Library (VCL) Controls and hundreds of included classes and controls.

* Microsoft ADO.NET and Borland Data Provider (BDP) for high-performance database applications.

* Borland Enterprise Core Objects (ECO) to accelerate design-driven development.

Delphi developers to move to the .NET Framework using existing Delphi skills and assets with:

* Familiar Delphi language syntax, helping to eliminate the learning curve.

* VCL controls that are backwards compatible with existing Delphi source code and interoperable with the .NET Framework.

* Database technologies that help to ease the migration of database applications to the .NET Framework.

Development teams to upgrade their Delphi investments with the .NET Framework by:

* Sharing components and source with over 20 languages that run on the NET Framework.

* Increasing competitive advantage by developing for the next generation Windows platform today.

* Augmenting reliability, security, interoperability and capabilities of Delphi-based products by migrating them to the .NET Framework.

Pricing and availability

Delphi 8 for the Microsoft .NET Framework for Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows 2000 Server is scheduled for shipment in December 2003.

Borland will ship three editions of Delphi 8, Borland Delphi Architect Edition for model-driven application design and development, Borland Delphi Enterprise Edition for teams building enterprise-class databases applications with Microsoft ADO.NET and Borland Delphi Professional Edition ideal for individuals building Web and GUI applications for the Microsoft .NET Framework.

New user pricing and pricing for existing Delphi customers is available at www.borland.com/delphi.

(1) Gartner, "CIO Update: How Java and .NET Compare and Will Evolve" by Mark Driver.