In the past, I have been very outspoken and critical of Real Software, and RealBasic. RB is buggy as hell, a disturbing number of the documented features don't actually work as documented, and Real seem to think it's the end user's responsibility to pay for their mistakes in the form of bug fixes that are available only with paid upgrades. These are all legitimate problems that the people at Real still need to address.

However, I have to say that despite all this, I regret having delayed my upgrade to 2005. After a few days of adjustment, I find that the new IDE interface utterly kicks ass. It still has some quirks, but overall I find I can navigate a project far more quickly than ever before. Add to that the (in some cases brilliant) new features added to the language itself, and the end result is an upgrade I was actually glad to pay for, unlike years past when I merely felt as if I was being held hostage.

In short, now would be a great time for anyone considering RB to take the plunge. As the new IDE matures, it will doubtless only improve. Hopefully, the bugs will too.

Thanks, Real. Let's hope you don't lose your momentum.