Delphi XE2

[zsleo]

Hi Danijel,

Will RTC SDK be supporting the upcoming XE2 release's FireMonkey cross platform technology?

Regards

Zane

[D.Tkalcec (RTC)]

The RealThinClient SDK will have full support for writing 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Applications with XE2, either by using the VCL or the FireMonkey technology. Other platforms will NOT be supported at XE2 release, but can be added later (preparations have been made).

Best Regards,
Danijel Tkalcec

[D.Tkalcec (RTC)]

Let me elaborate a bit more on FireMonkey support ...

Because the RealThinClient SDK is a set of non-visual components, it is compatible with VCL as well as the new FireMonkey platform. So, the same way you can now use the RealThinClient SDK to build VCL Windows Applications with Delphi 6 - XE, you will be able to build cross-platform FireMonkey Applications with Delphi XE2. The only question is: Which Platforms will your Application(s) compile for?

RealThinClient SDK is designed as a cross-platform library, keeping the Low-level Platform Access Layer completely hidden from the component user, allowing you to use the same Higher-level components on all supported Platforms, without having to worry about the lowest Platform Access Layer. The Low-Level Platform Access code still needs to be implemented and tested separately for each platform, tough, which is why the "cross-platform" term should not be taken literally.

So ... which platforms will be supported?

Immediately at XE2 release, the RealThinClient SDK will have fully functional Low-Level implementations for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows platforms, stress-tested to guarantee the highest stability and reliability. If you need your Applications to work 24/7 without any issues, Windows is still the preffered choice.

On the other hand, for those who are eager to start making their hands dirty and digging into the complex World of developing cross-platform Applications, you will be able to start testing cross-platform support with the RealThinClient SDK as well. First of all, immediately at XE2 release, experimental (beta) Low-Level implementations for the Mac OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and 10.7 (Lion) platforms will be available for use with the new OSX compiler included in XE2. And second, also immediately at XE2 release, experimental (beta) support for other platforms will be possible by using the FPC compiler and the FPC RTL.

Please note that there will be no official support for using the RealThinClient SDK on non-Windows platforms before we have an official stable cross-platform release for these platforms, but anyone who wants to start experimenting before that and provide feedback (prefferably by E-Mail) will be highly welcome to do so. And I will be happy to assist with any cross-platform problems that may show up.

Best Regards,
Danijel Tkalcec