We have a very exciting new addition in Delphi, C++Builder and RAD Studio 12.3: the Initial Release of a 64-bit build of the IDE!
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
- It’s an optional installation
- The Initial Release of the 64-bit IDE does not yet feature-match the 32-bit IDE
- It installs side by side with the existing 32-bit IDE
- You can use both at once
- The existing 32-bit IDE remains the default
- It supports building and debugging Win64 apps only
- The default (32-bit) IDE supports all platforms
- You can safely take your projects back and forth between both IDEs*
- There is a new Win64 Delphi debugger used only for the 64-bit IDE
- You can install it today!
* We always recommend retaining backups and using source control, especially when related to critical things like a project file or your app’s source.
Benefits
In 2025, it’s a 64-bit world.
And now the IDE is joining!
With the 64-bit build of the IDE, you get:
- 64-bit – essentially, unlimited! – memory space when compiling in the IDE
- The IDE uses the 64-bit version of the Delphi compiler
- (The C++ Modern compiler was already a 64-bit binary)
- You can use 64-bit database drivers, including for MySQL and Postgres
- And this is in all product editions, including Pro.
This is a massive product milestone, and one we know many people reading this will welcome.
What You’ll See
You can ensure the 64-bit IDE is present either when first installing, or later by opening the Tools > Manage Features dialog. Both will show you this screen:
You can see in the IDE Extras section, the 64-bit IDE can be checked. Make sure it is, continue, and it will be installed.
You’ll then see new shortcuts added in the Start Menu, with ‘64-bit Initial Release’ in their title, and an icon that has ‘64’ in it. For various technical reasons the name of the shortcut always says RAD Studio, even if you only installed Delphi or only C++Builder. Click this, and it will run the 64-bit build of the IDE!
In this screenshot, you can see both the normal and 64-bit shortcuts in my Start menu, and in the taskbar you can see both the normal (32-bit) and 64-bit versions of the 12.3 IDE running at the same time.
What’s Different?
The Initial Release is our first version, and it does not provide all features that the 32-bit IDE does, yet.
The main scope of what you can achieve is:
- Compile and debug Delphi and C++ VCL & FMX apps for Win64 / Win64 Modern, including
- Form design (both VCL & FMX)
- Components, including third party
- Code editing
- Debugging
- Database support
- ToolsAPI
Ie, fundamental / core features. You should expect debugging, because it has a brand new debugger, to be more ‘initial release’ than the others, which are existing features ported to 64-bit. However, it is functional and lets you run, step, evaluate, etc as you’d expect.
What is not included in the Initial Release is: any non-Win64 target platform (including the legacy C++ Win64 – only C++ Win64 Modern is included); Visual Assist; Type Library support including creating ActiveX projects; Delphi refactorings and metrics; and Live Templates (Ctrl+J in the code editor.)
We have a full list of differences in our online documentation.
The Feature Manager and GetIt can only install when opened from the 32-bit IDE. For select GetIt packages, when installing from the 32-bit IDE’s GetIt, it will install that package for both the 32- and 64-bit IDEs.
We plan to increase what’s included in the 64-bit IDE over time (subject to our standard GA disclaimer: not committed until completed and GA released.)
What happens if I have a non-Win64 project?
Many of our customers have project files which target more platforms than just Win64, of course. So if the Initial Release only supports Win64, what happens?
When you open a project in the 64-bit IDE, other platforms are hidden. They are still there; you just can’t access them.
When you close the project and reopen it back in the 32-bit IDE, the other platforms will be visible again.
It is intended for you to be safe to open a project in the 64-bit IDE, make changes, save, and reopen in the 32-bit IDE and see what you expect, including all platforms present.
Which IDE am I Running?
Technical Details
The main difference is that all designtime components and other IDE packages like plugins need to be compiled as 64-bit. This is a new requirement.
Most third party vendors have components that support running on 64-bit (ie the runtime package), so we hope this is minimal work for the designtime package. If you have custom components yourself, you will need to enable the Win64 platform and ensure your component designtime package works.
When opening a package in the 64-bit IDE, the Win64 platform is added automatically. If your code is 64-bit safe, no other code changes should be required. The API (eg Register(), etc, and including the ToolsAPI) is the same.
Note for C++ Win64 packages: when loaded in an app that was linked with the C++ linker, including when that app includes Delphi source, these function fine. However, when loaded with an app built with Delphi, like the IDE, there is an issue where the package uses a different memory manager. Designtime packages and plugins are loaded too late to hook the Delphi memory manager to the C++ one. We are investigating how to resolve this.
Most registry settings are shared (eg, look and feel like the IDE theme, the Open Recent list, etc.) The idea is that you open and use the ‘same’ IDE, it’s just built as a different bitness. Some registry settings to do with loaded components, packages and plugins, plus the debugger settings, are stored separately and you will see registry keys suffixed ‘x64’ for these settings.
If you have your own component installer, and need to check if the 64-bit IDE is installed, check the HKCUSoftwareEmbarcadero23.0 key, look for the ‘App x64’ string value, which if it exists will be the path to the 64bit bds.exe. Then check if that file is present. If yes, you can regard the 64-bit IDE as installed.
Some ancillary tools are still only 32-bit binaries. In general, files are placed in bin (32-bit) and bin64 (64-bit) folders in our installation folder. For legacy reasons – other tools made the switch to 64-bit before the IDE – the split isn’t always perfect, and we have not changed that in 12.3 because it is a point release.
An Exciting Direction!
The Initial Release of the 64-bit IDE is in all editions: Pro, Enterprise and Architect. It targets Win64 in this version. Further work is planned over time (subject to our standard GA disclaimer: not committed until completed and GA released.)
You can use the 32- and 64-bit IDEs together.
You get access to:
- 64-bit database drivers
- 64-bit Delphi compiler
- 64-bit memory space
It’s a modern direction. The world is 64-bit, and so are we. We hope you enjoy using it in 12.3 and beyond!
