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I currently have Delphi 2010 Professional and I want to upgrade to Delphi XE2. I'm having a hard time deciding wether to upgrade to XE2 Enterprise or XE2 Professional. I've looked over the Delphi XE2 Feature Matrix and I still can't decide which way to go.

The difference in cost is $700 and that is a big consideration. What factors went into your decision when you upgraded to either the Enterprise or Professional version of XE2 and did you regret your upgrade decision later on?

If yes on the regret, please explain why.

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I can't think of a single reason a developer would want Enterprise, unless he was part of a team (not an individual) in a Fortune 500 type company (not a job shop) ... and his company bought it for him. IMHO... –  paulsm4 Apr 6 '12 at 0:57
I think which the answer reside in the feature matrix, do you need datasnap? do you need dbexpress drivers for osx? do you need dbexpress drivers for firebird, oracle, MSSQL, Informix, and so on? do you need advanced UML and code analisys tools? do you need finalbuilder? if you answer is yes to any of these questions probably you must need the enterprise edition. –  RRUZ Apr 6 '12 at 1:25
This question is not appropriate for SO. It asks for opinion and discussion, and a single answer is highly unlikely. If you need shopping help, this isn't the right place. :) If you have a specific need that Enterprise can meet, you need to weigh the extra cost against the cost of Pro + third-party addons that can also meet those needs, and see what fits your situation. If you have no need for Enterprise features, don't spend the extra money to buy it. You're the only one that can decide which is right. Sorry, but voting to close as "not constructive". –  Ken White Apr 6 '12 at 1:33
I mentally translate the meaning of the close button to: "prohibit people from adding useful information to this page" –  Wouter van Nifterick Apr 6 '12 at 4:21
CapeCod; This is a discussion about money really, and even a touchy-feely question, and doesn't belong here. –  Warren P Apr 6 '12 at 12:57
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closed as not constructive by Ken White, Robert Love, TLama, Warren P, Rob Kennedy Apr 6 '12 at 13:04


2 Answers

The main difference is if whether you need to do client/server database development. If so, then you'll want Enterprise. Otherwise, Professional should be fine.

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You can do MS SQL client/server database development with Delphi XE professional; It ships with ADO for example. But it doesn't include interbase or other commercial SQL databases –  Warren P Apr 6 '12 at 12:56
You can do all the database connectivity you want with Delphi Pro. –  paulsm4 Apr 6 '12 at 15:52
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I never worry about the cost of a tool the additional $700 will probably work out at about 25 cents for each hour you are going to be using it! If you think you might need it, or it makes the dev environment more flexible or increases your earning potential then just put it in the cart and think of the hourly rate you will earn on top of the 25 cents :)

All just my opinion of course and not a definitive answer.

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I think the only correlation between "more crap" and "increased productivity" is a negative correlation. IMHO... –  paulsm4 Apr 6 '12 at 15:54
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