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Windows 10 is no longer supported by Microsoft. According to a on the Microsoft website (see image below), “Windows 10 support has ended on October 14, 2025”. This clearly doesn’t come unexpected, as Microsoft announces their products’ EOL (End-of-Life) with significant advance notice. However, there are still many end users and developers who haven’t fully planned the transition to Windows 11. In this blog post, I’ll cover this migration from different angles. The good news is that the go-to IDE for modern Windows app development, RAD Studio 13 has extensive support for Windows 11.
Table of Contents
What Does the Windows 10 EOL Mean for You
The Windows 10 EOL deadline is not just a generic announcement. It means the operating system is no longer officially supported (although Microsoft is offering some extensions to Windows customers in Europe), with the risk of not receiving security updates.
So what to do now that Windows 10 is no longer supported?
Whether your organization or country is subject to an extension or not, it’s time to move on to avoid any risk or disruption. As your customers embrace Windows 11, you need to make sure your applications are fully aligned with the new operating system.
RAD Studio Fully Supports Windows 11
While we at Embarcadero still support running the RAD Studio IDE on 64-bit versions of Windows 10, given Microsoft EOL announcement, we strongly encourage all of our customers to use RAD Studio on a Windows 11 computer (or a VM with Windows 11).
In terms of target versions of Windows, we generally offer a high degree of compatibility with older versions of the operating systems, and we plan to continue to do so, while we encourage our customers not only to target Windows 11 with their applications, but also to modernize their apps to take full advantage of the new operating system and update the UI of their applications to look modern and smoothly integration with the new OS.
When we mention that RAD Studio offers full support for Windows11, this comes with a large number of features, covered in the following sections.
RAD Studio 13 running on Windows 11
Windows PE Flags and Security
One of the most important features of recent versions of Windows is the support for a number of security options at the executable file level (the executable image format is called ). These features need to be supported by compilers, are enabled settings specific PE flags in the exe file, and offer a defense against common attack vectors.
RAD Studio includes support for DEP (Data Execution Prevention) and ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization), enabling them by default for Windows compilers in recent versions. There are specific project options and Delphi also includes the {$DYNAMICBASE ON} and {$SETPEOPTFLAGS $40} compiler directives in source code. What are these features for?
The first and last option in the Linker settings displayed here refer to DEP and ASLR
There are also other important angles to security. RAD Studio 13 offers an HTTP client library with support for the most recent levels of HTTPS on all platforms. In addition, the GetIt package manager offers Taurus TLS, an Indy add-on including OpenSLL 3 and TLS 1.3 support.
The VCL Library and the Windows 11 User Interface
Once you have addressed the platform security, it is also important to make sure your applications offer a nice support for the user interface styles customers expect on Windows 11. A simple example is the fact that main windows (or main forms) should have rounded corners. Not only VCL applications support this, but the TForm class in VCL has even a specific property, called RoundedCorners, you can use to change the behavior of this Windows 11 display attribute.
The TForm RoundedCorner property
Another key element of many Windows 11 applications is the transition from a classic window title to a full blown title bar. This is a powerful feature the VCL library has supported for a few releases, but which was significantly enhanced in RAD Studio 13 with the inclusion of the support for styles, custom colors for each of the title bar elements, and the ability to embed tabs and other advanced components. These features allow you to build Google Chrome-like UI in minutes. Here is an example in practice.
A modern UI built with VCL with RAD Studio 13
In other words, we don’t just offer support for new Windows APIs. We also have custom VCL UI controls offering the modern look and feel end users expect on Windows 11, not supported by a matching platform API by Microsoft and requiring a fairly extensive developer work to implement – if you are using UI libraries by other vendors and don’t use the VCL library (or if you are on an old version of RAD Studio)!
API Updates
In terms of API, we have just done a new roundup of updates in RAD Studio 13 to the core platform APIs, the WinRT APIs, the Edge browser components and all of the other subsystems Microsoft offers, part of the classic Windows SDK and the new Windows App SDK. We have even upgraded our WinUI 3 demo and added it to the core product demo, even if it seems this new Microsoft UI has limited appeal.
One more element worth underlying is that we now offer specific VCL and FireMonkey styles matching the Windows 11 look and feel, and updated from the previous Windows 10 styles. You can, of course, ship a Windows 11 style and deploy it also on Windows 11 (probably even Windows XP), as our styling architecture doesn’t require a specific OS version. In other words, you can make your applications look more modern also on older versions of the operating system.
VCL Modernization Overall
Outside of the Windows 11 specific angle, the VCL has been constantly extended in many directions over recent years with:
An extensive and unparalleled support for HighDPI, with virtualized image collections, UI controls that adapt to the DPI and support monitors with different resolutions, and an overall solution built on Microsoft perMonitor v2, but significantly expanding on the limited platform capabilities. Notice we just added to Embarcadero doc wiki a specific guide to VCL High DPI:
RAD Studio’s latest release includes a brand new set of VCL controls, introduced in the article. The latest additions to the VCL Library can be explored here: .
Going Beyond GDI and DirectX: Skia to the Rescue
Traditional VCL applications rely on the classic GDI for painting on screen. This is arguably a Windows graphic subsystem that’s stuck in the past (even if it remains a core Windows API solution). Over the years, the VCL added integrated support for DirectX, with a .
More recently, the VCL also adopted Google-backed Skia library, with the integration of a number of UI controls based on Skia rendering:
VCL Skia controls in the Tools Palette
These controls offer support for fast and high quality direct painting and text rendering, but also many graphic and animation formats, you can easily use to modernize the look and feel of your existing VCL applications, without having to rewrite them.
You can, of course, also build FireMonkey applications for Windows 11, leveraging the specific styles and a multi device architecture that lets you build a single source and single UI desktop application for Windows, macOS and Linux, and even deploy it on mobile platforms.
On the Edge of the Internet
There is more to the VCL than classic Windows features. You can drop in your application the TEdgeBrowser component and integrate a modern browser based on the Chromium library in your windows applications. This is based on Microsoft WebView 2 control, which embedded the same engine used by the company Edge browser – but without the need to even install Edge.
Integrating a modern browser can augment a native application mixing native rendered and web content in a seamless way.
Packaged Apps and the Windows Store
Once you have built a great Windows 11 application with RAD Studio, there is one more option you can easily leverage. Create a “packaged app” by using the MSIX packaging support built into the RAD Studio IDE and distribute your packages application directly or using the .
Windows Store deployment configuration in the RAD Studio IDE
This is part of a fairly comprehensive support of the Windows App SDK that RAD Studio has been offering for some time and keeps extending with new features.
Windows 10 Is No Longer Supported – RAD Studio 13 is Your Path to Windows 11
With Windows 10 EOL and customers increasingly moving to Windows 11, if you haven’t done it already it’s time to strengthen your support to the new operating system at all levels, from executable file security to the UI look and feel and platform integration. RAD Studio 13, along with Delphi 13 and C++Builder 13, offers all you need to create compelling and modern Windows 11 apps. Whether you’re moving apps from an old, existing code base or building something new, there is really no better Windows desktop development library than what RAD Studio provides.
Table of Contents
What Does the Windows 10 EOL Mean for You
The Windows 10 EOL deadline is not just a generic announcement. It means the operating system is no longer officially supported (although Microsoft is offering some extensions to Windows customers in Europe), with the risk of not receiving security updates.
So what to do now that Windows 10 is no longer supported?
Whether your organization or country is subject to an extension or not, it’s time to move on to avoid any risk or disruption. As your customers embrace Windows 11, you need to make sure your applications are fully aligned with the new operating system.
RAD Studio Fully Supports Windows 11
While we at Embarcadero still support running the RAD Studio IDE on 64-bit versions of Windows 10, given Microsoft EOL announcement, we strongly encourage all of our customers to use RAD Studio on a Windows 11 computer (or a VM with Windows 11).
In terms of target versions of Windows, we generally offer a high degree of compatibility with older versions of the operating systems, and we plan to continue to do so, while we encourage our customers not only to target Windows 11 with their applications, but also to modernize their apps to take full advantage of the new operating system and update the UI of their applications to look modern and smoothly integration with the new OS.
When we mention that RAD Studio offers full support for Windows11, this comes with a large number of features, covered in the following sections.
RAD Studio 13 running on Windows 11
Windows PE Flags and Security
One of the most important features of recent versions of Windows is the support for a number of security options at the executable file level (the executable image format is called ). These features need to be supported by compilers, are enabled settings specific PE flags in the exe file, and offer a defense against common attack vectors.
RAD Studio includes support for DEP (Data Execution Prevention) and ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization), enabling them by default for Windows compilers in recent versions. There are specific project options and Delphi also includes the {$DYNAMICBASE ON} and {$SETPEOPTFLAGS $40} compiler directives in source code. What are these features for?
- DEP (Data Execution Prevention) marks memory regions as non-executable, preventing malicious code injected by an attacker from running
- ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) randomizes the memory address of the executable data and code section and of DLLs (and runtime packages) loaded by the application. This makes it much harder for an attacker to predict the locations of addresses needed to exploit a vulnerability. This feature has a basic version for Win32 applications and a specific variation for Win64 apps (called “High Entropy”), which can leverage Win64 extended memory address space.
The first and last option in the Linker settings displayed here refer to DEP and ASLR
There are also other important angles to security. RAD Studio 13 offers an HTTP client library with support for the most recent levels of HTTPS on all platforms. In addition, the GetIt package manager offers Taurus TLS, an Indy add-on including OpenSLL 3 and TLS 1.3 support.
The VCL Library and the Windows 11 User Interface
Once you have addressed the platform security, it is also important to make sure your applications offer a nice support for the user interface styles customers expect on Windows 11. A simple example is the fact that main windows (or main forms) should have rounded corners. Not only VCL applications support this, but the TForm class in VCL has even a specific property, called RoundedCorners, you can use to change the behavior of this Windows 11 display attribute.
The TForm RoundedCorner property
Another key element of many Windows 11 applications is the transition from a classic window title to a full blown title bar. This is a powerful feature the VCL library has supported for a few releases, but which was significantly enhanced in RAD Studio 13 with the inclusion of the support for styles, custom colors for each of the title bar elements, and the ability to embed tabs and other advanced components. These features allow you to build Google Chrome-like UI in minutes. Here is an example in practice.
A modern UI built with VCL with RAD Studio 13
In other words, we don’t just offer support for new Windows APIs. We also have custom VCL UI controls offering the modern look and feel end users expect on Windows 11, not supported by a matching platform API by Microsoft and requiring a fairly extensive developer work to implement – if you are using UI libraries by other vendors and don’t use the VCL library (or if you are on an old version of RAD Studio)!
API Updates
In terms of API, we have just done a new roundup of updates in RAD Studio 13 to the core platform APIs, the WinRT APIs, the Edge browser components and all of the other subsystems Microsoft offers, part of the classic Windows SDK and the new Windows App SDK. We have even upgraded our WinUI 3 demo and added it to the core product demo, even if it seems this new Microsoft UI has limited appeal.
One more element worth underlying is that we now offer specific VCL and FireMonkey styles matching the Windows 11 look and feel, and updated from the previous Windows 10 styles. You can, of course, ship a Windows 11 style and deploy it also on Windows 11 (probably even Windows XP), as our styling architecture doesn’t require a specific OS version. In other words, you can make your applications look more modern also on older versions of the operating system.
VCL Modernization Overall
Outside of the Windows 11 specific angle, the VCL has been constantly extended in many directions over recent years with:
- An extensive and continually extended UI styling technology
- Support for many modern looking UI controls, like TActivityIndicator, TToggleSwitch, TSearchBox, the high performance TControlList and the set of components it can host, TNumberBox, and more.
- An reworked MDI architecture which can even overcome Windows platforms limitations
- An easy to use tab-based control (shown in action above in the title bar) called TFormsTabBar.
An extensive and unparalleled support for HighDPI, with virtualized image collections, UI controls that adapt to the DPI and support monitors with different resolutions, and an overall solution built on Microsoft perMonitor v2, but significantly expanding on the limited platform capabilities. Notice we just added to Embarcadero doc wiki a specific guide to VCL High DPI:
RAD Studio’s latest release includes a brand new set of VCL controls, introduced in the article. The latest additions to the VCL Library can be explored here: .
Going Beyond GDI and DirectX: Skia to the Rescue
Traditional VCL applications rely on the classic GDI for painting on screen. This is arguably a Windows graphic subsystem that’s stuck in the past (even if it remains a core Windows API solution). Over the years, the VCL added integrated support for DirectX, with a .
More recently, the VCL also adopted Google-backed Skia library, with the integration of a number of UI controls based on Skia rendering:
- TSkLabel
- TSkPaintBox
- TSkSvg
- TSkAnimatedPaintBox
- TSkAnimatedImage
VCL Skia controls in the Tools Palette
These controls offer support for fast and high quality direct painting and text rendering, but also many graphic and animation formats, you can easily use to modernize the look and feel of your existing VCL applications, without having to rewrite them.
You can, of course, also build FireMonkey applications for Windows 11, leveraging the specific styles and a multi device architecture that lets you build a single source and single UI desktop application for Windows, macOS and Linux, and even deploy it on mobile platforms.
On the Edge of the Internet
There is more to the VCL than classic Windows features. You can drop in your application the TEdgeBrowser component and integrate a modern browser based on the Chromium library in your windows applications. This is based on Microsoft WebView 2 control, which embedded the same engine used by the company Edge browser – but without the need to even install Edge.
Integrating a modern browser can augment a native application mixing native rendered and web content in a seamless way.
Packaged Apps and the Windows Store
Once you have built a great Windows 11 application with RAD Studio, there is one more option you can easily leverage. Create a “packaged app” by using the MSIX packaging support built into the RAD Studio IDE and distribute your packages application directly or using the .
Windows Store deployment configuration in the RAD Studio IDE
This is part of a fairly comprehensive support of the Windows App SDK that RAD Studio has been offering for some time and keeps extending with new features.
Windows 10 Is No Longer Supported – RAD Studio 13 is Your Path to Windows 11
With Windows 10 EOL and customers increasingly moving to Windows 11, if you haven’t done it already it’s time to strengthen your support to the new operating system at all levels, from executable file security to the UI look and feel and platform integration. RAD Studio 13, along with Delphi 13 and C++Builder 13, offers all you need to create compelling and modern Windows 11 apps. Whether you’re moving apps from an old, existing code base or building something new, there is really no better Windows desktop development library than what RAD Studio provides.