Why is Delphi 2005 the "must have" upgrade for Win32 developers?

"A great question was posted in the Delphi newsgroups today:

"What would make me switch from Delphi 7 to Delphi 2005?"

This question is great because it's really the same for any Delphi Win32 developer using version v2 thru v7. The answer is that there are more new features for Win32 development than we've done in any previous version of Delphi. For Win32 development we focused on how we could improve, speed up, and add fun to every aspect of the day to day developer experience for every Delphi developer regardless of what type of application you are developing. And, at the same time helping you to produce higher quality code, fewer bugs, and improve team collaboration. In addition to all of that, Delphi 2005 still provides, out of the box, the most seamless migration to .NET of any programming language, period.

So, here are some reasons to upgrade - specifically for Win32 developers:

- New, "For In" loop iterator (worth the price of admission alone)
- New, Delphi compiler function inlining for executable performance increase
- New, Refactoring
o extract method
o declare field/variable
o rename
o extract to resource string
- New, SyncEdit - visually edit multiple occurances of a symbol simultaneously
- New, Error Insights
o you'll find errors faster, and let fewer get by (plus it's fun to watch as you type)
- New Help Insights
o on the fly VCL help for every object, property, and method
- as well as for your own classes, functions, and procedures
- New, Integrated DUnit unit testing to automate creating and executing Unit tests
- New, Automatic multiple file backups - keeps a historical record of all file saves
- New, History Manager - view/diff/restore from any backup or starteam checkin
- Starteam Standard Edtion included in Delphi Enterprise and Architect Editions
- Enhanced, IntraWeb v7.2 RAD WYSIWYG Delphi Web development
- New, Deployment Manager - simplifies and automates deploying IntraWeb Applications
- Enhanced, Indy 10 Internet Protocol components
- Enhanced, Object Inspector
o view and change properties of files in project manager and other IDE objects
- Enhanced, Tool Palette
o Designed to easily find, organize, and access hundreds of components
o In place filtered searching - ctrl-alt-p and just start typing the first few characters of what you're looking for
o Access Gallery Wizards from Tool Palette - ie: ctrl-alt-p "u" to add a unit
- Enhanced, Interbase 7.5 Developer Edition
- Enhanced, Nevrona Rave Reports
- New, GlyFX Icon Library
- New, Component One ActiveX Enterprise Suite
- New, Sybase dbExpress driver
- Datasnap(Midas) royalty free deployment license
- Tons of Win32 debugger enhancements

plus a few .NET features to boot ;o) Delphi.NET, VCL.NET, .NET versions of Delphi data access technologies, C# support, ECO II, RAD for ADO.NET and hundreds of add'l .NET features"