Update: (May 26, 2013) We have an official FAQ for the migration of Prism licenses to Oxygene available now at remobjects.com/oxygene/prism. Also updated pricing references within the post to reflect current pricing.
Ok, so the cat is out of the bag, if a few days ahead of schedule: starting with the upcoming release of XE4, Embarcadero Prism will no longer be part of the RAD Studio SKU, and there will be no “XE4” branded edition of Prism.
But worry not. As you all know, Prism has been nothing more than a re-branded version of our Oxygene for .NET product — and Oxygene will keep going on, stronger than ever.
In fact, Oxygene has long outgrown its Prism-branded edition, first when we introduced full native support for Java and Android to the language over 18 months ago, and of course with our upcoming support for truly native iOS and Mac apps, shipping next month.
So “Embarcadero Prism” as a product is going away, but the Oxygene language you have come to love and depend on will continue to shine and evolve, as it always has.
What exactly does all of this mean?
We believe that in the end, this change will be a net positive for Oxygene.
When we first started working with Embarcadero in 2008 to bring Oxygene 3.0 into RAD Studio, Embarcadero had a gap left in their lineup with the discontinuation of their ill-fated Delphi for .NET product. Both companies shared a vision of Delphi and Oxygene — then getting branded Delphi Prism — becoming two sides of the same coin: two languages evolving together and influencing each other to push Pascal forward both for CPU-native Windows development and for managed targets.
Over the years, it turned out that this was not happening, and as Embarcadero was shifting their focus to “
This became clearer as Oxygene evolved.
We added support for Java and (more importably) Android, but Embarcadero had their own (very long term ;) vision of how they wanted to pursue the platform that conflicted with what Oxygene had to offer. As a result, Oxygene was forced into a split personality — with Oxygene for .NET remaining under the Prism umbrella, and Oxygene for Java becoming a separate product (for a while).
At the same time, Embarcadero became less and less interested in actually marketing and promoting the product, and it was being relegated to a “filler” to pad up RAD Studio as a worthwhile product suite.
Things got even more complicated when we started working on “Nougat”, our vision for really and properly bringing Object Pascal and Oxygene onto the (misleadingly named) Objective-C runtime that is the engine behind iOS and Mac. Once again, Embarcadero had different plans for the platform, and what is more, they — understandably — raised the concern that Oxygene for Cocoa would be too direct a competitor to their efforts on iOS (albeit once again our two companies were following two very different visions).
To wrap things up short and sweet, as of right now, Oxygene is finally standing on its own two feet again.
During the five years of partnership, RemObjects Software has always been the sole technical contributor to the core Oxygene product, and having Oxygene “back to ourselves” really just means one thing: that we can, more aggressively and consistently, continue to drive the product on all three target platforms, according to the vision we have for it. And trust me, we have some amazing things planned for 2013 and 2014, with “Nougat”, our Mac and iOS support, only being the tip of the iceberg.
What does this mean for existing customers?
Worry not. We have every eventuality covered.
First of all, if you already bought Oxygene directly from us or one of our reseller (i.e. without an Embarcadero serial number), none of this will affect you at all, you’re already set.
If you’re an Oxygene user from the Embarcadero side of the fence, now more than ever, make sure you register your XE2.x or XE3.x serial number with us. This way, we know about you and can take care of you moving forward.
If you have registered your XE3.1 serial, you can take advantage of our special renewal price for Prism customers and renew to a full Oxygene package licensed directly from RemObjects Software, for only $499. Remember, this not only renews you for future updates to Oxygene for .NET (the product you have now), but it also gives you the Java/Android and Mac/iOS targets, as well!
If you have active software assurance (SA) with Embarcadero that covers Oxygene, that will of course be honored. Up until August (i.e. one year from when XE3 shipped), you will continue to receive the latest updates to Oxygene for .NET from Embarcadero. This will (assuming your SA is still active at the time) include the upcoming major 6.0 release, next month.
Once your current SA expires, renewing it will not include renewed access to Oxygene, but you can use the link above at any time to renew to the full Oxygene package from us. (Note that the current renewal price of $349 is a special offer and will increase slightly once “Nougat” ships next month.)
It’s probably unlikely that you’re buying RAD Studio XE4 “fresh” without already being an existing RAD Studio user, but if you do, i’m afraid you will not receive “Prism XE4” as part of it. You (and every other Delphi user) can use our special cross-grade offer to purchase a full Oxygene package from us, at $599(this is also a special offer, and the price will increase slightly once we ship 6.0 next month).
In Summary
As the old saying goes, The King is dead, long live the King! Embarcadero Prism is no more, starting next week, but Oxygene is going stronger than ever.
We, and i personally, are incredibly excited about Oxygene, and about the things we have planned thru-out the rest of the year and beyond. We can’t wait to walk down the road ahead with you.
yours,
marc hoffman
Chief Architect & Oxygene Team Lead
RemObjects Software
