Delphi issues on windows 7 x64 ?

Question

Hello

I searched around but I couldn't find a straight answer to these questions, only bits and pieces: if I install windows seven x64,
1 - will I be able to use delphi 2007+ as I'm used to aka start it, code in it, debug in it, compile in it ? I've seen the debugger issue and the hex edit workaround.
2 - will my application compiled in that environnement work on 32 bit versions of windows ?
3 - will my application I compiled with delphi on 32 bit windows work this 64 bit version ?

(of course all this is assuming "normal" applications as-in I don't expect things to work if I'm playing with pointers expecting them to be 32 bits long, obviously)

The overall question of this would be, as someone who is moving to windows seven 64 bits, will I be able to/should I use this as my main delphi developpement platform or will i be better off keeping a 32 bit boot for delphi dev ?

Thanks to anyone who can give me a clue about this

Answer 1

No idea about Windows 7 64 bit version, but I have been using Delphi 4, 5, 2007 and 2009 for nearly a year now on Windows XP 64 bit, and given the effort Microsoft spends on backwards compatibility I don't see why things should be very different on Windows 7. This answers your last question - no need to keep a separate partition. Use virtualization for running things on a 32 bit system. Windows 7 does AFAIK offer you a virtualized Windows XP subsystem - at no cost, but you may need to download it separately.

Re 2. and 3.: The OS an application is compiled on does not matter for the deployment, as long as the compilation itself works. I have only ever been compiling 16 bit Delphi programs on 32 bit Windows versions, without problems. You should however always test on clean installations of your target OS versions, as a developer PC is sufficiently different from a user PC to not assume that everything will just work. This however is general advise, and has nothing to do with a 64 bit OS.

Your Delphi programs will run on a 32 bit layer (WOW64 - Windows on Windows 64) of Windows 64 bit which is close enough to the real 32 bit OS that you do not need to care about it, unless you work very closely with the lower system level.

Answer 2

I was doing some work on Delphi 2007 under Windows 7 64-bit yesterday, and it was a disaster. Every time I'd leave the program while debugging, either by quitting out normally or by stopping the debugger, it would raise an assertion failure that I couldn't get out of, bringing down the entire IDE. (This never happened under XP.) Apparently the WOW64 emulator isn't quite as stable as it ought to be... :(

If you're going to try to work on Windows 7 64-bit, I'd strongly recommend upgrading to Delphi 2010, which was built specifically with Windows 7 compliance in mind. If that's not an option, then at least install a VM with XP on it for your dev work.

Answer 3

As Mason Wheeler stated, there's a problem with the 2007/2009 debugger and 64-bit platforms but it can easily be fixed.

I'm using D2007 (with this fix) on Windows 7 64-bit on a daily basis and it works just great.

Answer 4

There is now a hotfix for this.

Answer 5

Answers are:

1. Yes - With the workaround for the debugger issue
2. Yes - Delphi 2007 (native) will only build 32 bit applications
3. Yes - Unless it's a Device Driver or low-level service

First apply the patch as mentioned on Olaf's Blog. This fixes the debugger exit error.

Second, Install Windows XP Mode, which is a fully clean (and legal) windows XP 32bit virtual machine.

Compile application on Windows 7 64bit. Install onto the virtual machine. It should just work. Rinse, lather and repeat for other applications you are developing.

XP Mode is available to all owners of Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate editions. Don't know about corporate editions.

This is what I'm currently using for development as I had to perform an emergency OSectomy of a Macbook Pro