Link clearance on the recent Delphi XE3 and WinRT stir

Just for my own record, a link clearance of WinRT in relation to Delphi.

I amended this a couple of time already, will try to do so over time:

• Is Embarcadero going to use a way around WinRT sideloading only being available on Windows 8 Enterprise SKUs? « The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of Wiert stuff.
• Sideloading for Delphi on Windows 8? – DelphiTools.info.
• Windows 8 sideloading and Embarcadero’s Metropolis fake-WinRT framework « Tim Anderson’s ITWriting.
• Cape Cod Gunny Does Delphi: Making Sense of the Whole Delphi WinRT Thing.
• Flotsam and Jetsam #63: Nick Hodges summing up a few links of the stir (note some interesting stuff in the comments section). This inspired me for the link clearance.
• Embarcadero Discussion Forums: HTML5 Builder … full thread with quite a few interesting posts from Allen:
  1. first post on the WinRT little secret..
  2. explaining general WinRT limitations for any platform that wants to use it.
  3. explaining the process from Windows 8 beta that didn’t even allow VC++ apps, till release that did, and the loss of the Embarcadero feedback to Microsoft.
  4. about trying to solve a problem versus doing negative publicity.
  5. on the balancing act of communicating early versus late, and the awareness of the silence.
  6. on the consideration and impossibility of reusing the VC++ RTL from Delphi.
  7. on partnerships and practiveness from both sides.
  8. on keeping contact with MS.
  9. explaining the differences betweeen the msvcrt.dll C runtime library and the VC++ one (the latter is about the secret).
• Embarcadero Discussion Forums: Windows 8 WinRT & Delphi …. with even more posts by Allen
  1. on WinRT in the Enterprise version of Windows 8.
  2. on WinRT being a new platform, not just something on top of Windows 8.
  3. on the difference between 3rd party vendors that integrate with VS and the MS sanctioned libraries, and the ones doing native stuff, and the not well documented SafeSEH switch.
  4. on the difference between COM and WinRT (followed by Marc joking on the difference between COM+  and .NET).
  5. on IInspectable, IUnknown, absence of IDispatch, and type libraries. And on WinRT consumer versus producer.
  6. on the reason behind WinRT..
  7. Marc Hoffman explaining what the WinRT API is in relation to various development platforms..
• Is new JIT-ed programming language in windows 8 metro/winRT possible? – Stack Overflow. On the WinRT sandbox limiations (especially Hans Passant’s answer on VirtualQuery reachability)
• Microsoft wanting to help and advise tool vendors.
• Why no native WinRT support in Delphi XE3? – DelphiTools.info.
  1. A. Bouchez posting some interesting comments on the “how” the WinRT lockdown works.
• Te Waka o Delphi · Why Delphi Cannot (currently) Support WinRT.
  be sure to read the comments, especially
  1. Allen explaining proper WinRT support effort will be as costly as iOS support.
  2. List of interesting WinRT links by Bunny.
• Under the Covers of WinRT Using C++ – All Your Base Are Belong To Us.
• Third-party compilers locked out of Windows Runtime development « Tim Anderson’s ITWriting.
  1. Allen explaining they are still very much in touch with Microsoft to get the limitations resolved for Delphi.
  2. Allen explaining that in VC++ you cannot statically link to the VC++ RTL DLL, you have to dynamically link against it.
• Making Sense of the Whole Delphi WinRT Thing – DelphiFeeds.com.
• Delphi and WinRT or Windows 8 “Dirty Little Secret” – DelphiFeeds.com.
• Thom Gerdes – Google+ (who started experimenting to do WinRT from Delphi)
  1. Writing Hello World for WinRT in Delphi.
  2. Creating an Appx Package.
  3. Hello World: Hooking events.
  4. DirectX Applications in WinRT.
  5. Debugging Metro Style Applications.

–jeroen