Preliminary Delphi Q&A
==================

This brief explanation of Delphi is being released by Borland 
to help give general answers to some commonly asked questions.  
It is not considered a definitive product definition, but only a 
general guide to the shape the product will take when it is fully 
mature and ready for release.

Q) What is Delphi?

A) Delphi is an unreleased high performance visual client/server 
development tool. A portion of the Delphi technology was 
demonstrated at the BIC conference in Orlando on June 7.

Q) What is the Delphi target audience?

A) Delphi is targeted to corporate developers, departmental 
programmers, vertical marketing consultants,  VARs and independent 
developers who want a client/server or desktop development tool 
that is easy to use and that produces small, fast, single file 
executables.

Q) What are the major benefits of Delphi over competing products?

A) Delphi is the first tool that offers the high performance 
of  a native code compiler with the rapid visual development 
of client/server applications. It provides greater 
productivity, code reuse and performance than any competing product.

Q) Will there be both a desktop and a client/server version of Delphi?

A) Yes, there will be both a client/server version of Delphi 
and a standalone Desktop version for local PC development.

Q) Is Delphi the same as the VBK?

A) The press has occasionally referred to the desktop version 
of Delphi as the Visual Basic Killer (VBK). The client/server 
version of Delphi also competes against PowerBuilder.

Q) What is the difference between the client/server version 
and desktop version?

A) The client/server version of Delphi will include SQL links 
for connections to Oracle, Sybase, Interbase, and ODBC. It will 
also include Reportsmith and other team development tools not 
found in the desktop version.

Q)  Will I be able to start with the desktop version and later 
upsize my applications to the client/server version?

A) Yes.

Q) How much will Delphi cost? Will there be upgrades?

A) Pricing for the product has not yet been announced.

Q) When will Delphi be released?

A) No announcement or ship date is available at this time.

Q) Will Delphi support DDE? OLE2? VBXs?

A) Yes, Delphi will support DDE, OLE2, and VBX version 1.0.

Q) What language does Delphi use?

A) We wanted a structured object-oriented language that would 
support our goals of reuse, easy to maintain code, and high 
performance. ObjectPascal met these goals better than other 
language.

Q) Is Delphi a replacement for Borland Pascal 7?

A) Delphi is a new product line and does not replace BP7. BP7 
and TP7 will stay on the market.
