What version of Delphi will let me create software that runs on a Mac?

2
votes

I use Delphi and last year I upgraded from D5 Enterprise to Delphi 2010 Profession. Occasionally I get emails asking when I will have a version that runs on a Mac.

Is there a version of Delphi out there that will create software that runs on a Mac?

If not, do you know if Embarcadero plans on rolling out a version that does this in the near future?

3
delphimacosdelphi-2010
at this moment no, you can not make binaries for Mac from Delphi. maybe in the future. at this moment the only reliable solution is DelphiPrism or you can try a shot with FreePascal. – RBA
I think many users will vote for this question because many users need it – VibeeshanRC
Note that whether you consider Lazarus, or a future Delphi version that runs on mac, you will have to make a lot of UI changes to adapt to a different platform. You can start getting ready now by making sure your UI layer (your Views, which in Delphi would mostly be Forms and Frames) runs completely separate from your model and or controller objects. – Warren P
I don't see a need to do that completely. Removing some state from the UI is a good thing (kill TComponent.tag), but unless you plan a webfrontend, MVC is overkill IMHO. – Marco van de Voort

3 Answers

8
votes

See the roadmap: http://edn.embarcadero.com/article/39934 Project "Pulsar", slide 13.

In the short term, many Delphi apps run just fine on the Mac in emulation, such as Parallels Workstation.

15
votes

Have you tried the Lazarus IDE which is usign Free Pascal and is free? This has native support for Mac OS including Linux and Windows. It should be relatively compatible with Delphi. Although I haven't tried it, my guess is that it will be able to convert most Delphi applications with little to know change required.

Many of the third party vendor component makers, even make the components compatible with Lazarus. So there is a chance that any third party controls you have might work with Lazarus and Free Pascal.

Free Pascal not only supports several operating systems, it also supports 64 bit compiling, so while Embarcadero have all these things on the roadmap, waiting for them to be released would be a bit like waiting for the lottery ticket to bring you a fortune (sorry Embarcadero, I'm still waiting for 64 bit). As I mentioned I haven't tried Free Pascal/Lazarus my self, so it is a bit of a guess how complex moving from Delphi to this solution is; I guess it depends on your project, but you could be lucky and the transition is smooth.

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9
votes
  • Native Delphi only produces 32 bit Windows executables. These can only run on Mac with some form of emulation layer.
  • Delphi Prism targets .net and can produce Mac apps using Mono. It sounds like you have an existing native Win 32 Delphi app which means this option would not be terribly attractive.

Embarcadero are working on a version of Delphi that will produce native Mac executables but my impression is that this is still some way off release. Even when it is released there will be a significant porting effort required, especially if your app has significant amounts of GUI code. The VCL will not be available in the same form as on Windows.