Support the Win32 codebase
Preserve the exact IDE updates, MSBuild/project settings, runtime packages and third-party component versions. Verify database clients, manifests, UAC behavior and external DLL signatures independently of source compilation. Later project formats do not guarantee that all build settings live in source control.
Prepare modernization carefully
The major transition is often Unicode rather than basic syntax. Audit character buffers, PChar use, file formats, database fields, printer/device messages and vendor APIs. Replace unavailable components before or after the compiler step—not invisibly during it—and use golden data round trips.
Use toolchain recovery, Delphi modernization, hardware integration and the Delphi pillar.