Ever since Embarcadero took over Delphi I have avoided looking at the latest versions. That changed recently when I installed XE2 with the idea to upgrade an older program I had written with Delphi 7, still the most popular version. Before I got around to that I decided to try connecting to an Access database I had lying around. Well let’s just say I won’t be using XE2 anytime soon unless I can simply recompile my older program with any problems.
You would think that in the modern age it should be as easy as dropping a database connection onto the screen, clicking on some drop down to select Access and then the file location and away you go. Nope, nothing like that at all. So I set up an ODBC connection, tested it and tried connecting to that. I managed to specify ODBC and then the connection name but it still would not make a connection to the Access database. I gave up at that point because what used to be easy to understand and do under Delphi 7 is now too complex under XE2.
So I fired up Visual Studio 2010 and created a Windows Forms project. Next I clicked on the database tab and asked for a new connection. There was a drop down from which to select Access and a field to put in the file location. The I right clicked on that connection and selected Detail; then I simply dragged it onto the form. All the fields from the data base appeared along with a navigation bar. I ran the program and the records were displayed. I still have some other things to do to get it working like the Access version but so far it has been infinitely easier and simpler than trying to do it under XE2 and my VB.Net exposure has been somewhat limited to date compared to years under the Delphi environment.
It is sad when things that used to be and should be easier have changed enough so that getting things done becomes too difficult to bother with. Sorry Embacadero but a big FAIL so far. Added to the way they treated a simple request a couple of years ago concerning Delphi 5 and I recommend that everyone avoids this organisation.
Apart from that it has been a fairly quite week for me IT wise. Except for my upgrade from Android 2.4 to 4 for my Samsung S2. The upgrade itself went fairly smoothly after I installed the latest version of the Samsung Kies app. Using this seemed simpler than trying to do a download and applying it in another way. The whole process took about 40 minutes and the result was, well interesting.
First off the interface seemed faster. Actions seemed quicker and there were some obvious improvements to the contacts and logs. On the major down side it messed up all my screen arrangements so I’ll have to do them all again. It also seemed to have a problem connecting to any e-mail client. In the end the only solution was to remove each account and re add it to get the e-mail flows working again. The App Store was still working fine but my brother who has the same phone could not get Blue tooth to work correctly. All I can say it whoever released this version without testing it is an idiot. I’m sure there are a bunch of new features to learn but the S3 also just came out and I suspect I’ll have one of those in a few months’ time.
I read a ‘review’ or comparison of the Samsung Galaxy S3 with the iPhone 5. The writer was lauding the iPhone 5 and extolling its virtues. The joke here is that the iPhone 5 is not due out until November meaning the S3 will have been whipping the iPhone 4S’s arse for six months before the new one even comes out. The specs are essentially secret and there is not even a picture of one. How then can someone compare it to anything? The answer is of course the blind faith of the Apple lover cannot conceive of anything being better than their beloved Apple products so they will always be better, even when they aren’t, which is most of the time these days. Oh and iTunes still sucks big time.
Industry News
Statcounter tells us that for one day in March Google’s Chrome beat out IE. This month on May 5th and 6th it happened again. Actually since that fateful day in March Chrome has managed to take about a day a weekend. The numbers are not big but they are ever so slowly growing. On weekdays the story is different most likely as organisational installations tend to favour IE over any other browser. This may change soon after Microsoft announced that both SharePoint and Microsoft CRM will support other browsers, shock, horror. This means that organisation may no longer be tied to IE as their browser. I suspect that inertia will continue for some time yet.
So when is 500 million not enough? Apparently when it is also the number of Internet users in China. The government there is planning to have 800 million users online by 2015. This will still be a bit under 60 percent of the population but even the Chinese government is complaining about the high cost of optical fibre and the sheer size of the country. Of the 800 mil about 200 will be from the rural areas. Not sure how those poor farmers will be able to afford a computer to connect with but that is a whole other issue.
So the Galaxy S3 has been released. How much better is it really? Slightly bigger 4.8 inch screen, some 4G support, voice control (also in the Android 4 update for the S2), Bluetooth LE and NFC making it the first phone to support both protocols, paired WiFi channels (using two at once) allowing for greater speed. There is a wireless charging kit, i.e. no cable charging. WiFi also supports the 802.11a band with HT40 support up to 40MHz of bandwidth. There is a bunch of other WiFi stuff that allows for collaboration but you can look that up for yourselves. All in all I suspect that the S3 will still support more protocols than the iPhone 5, whenever that may come out.
When licensing kills the market. Digital media playback in Windows 8 will not include DVD support, unless the manufacturer has included the license as part of their combined offering. In fact Windows Media Centre will be sold for an extra cost in Windows 8. In reality this means that Windows 8 customers will end up paying more than others because the PC makers will license the required codecs themselves to enable DVD playback. Who wants to buy a computer where you can’t play a DVD?
Finally for this week I have started playing Mass Effect 3 the latest game from Bioware. So far it has all the trademarks of a modern game. Lots of movie bits interspersed with some play time. Not sure why things are going this way but they are and it is annoying. More on this one after I get into it a bit more.
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