Informix & Delphi

Hey all - I was just wondering if anyone out there has done any extensive Delphi programming. We have a customer who's looking put a front end on an Informix DB and werent convinced about NewEra (No jokes from the peanut gallery please!) I had a few specific questions: 1) Hows the responce time with the client/server version? 2) Are there extra costs such as run-time liscenses w/Delphi? 3) How extensive is the language comparred to others? (VB being the lowest and C++ being the highest) 4) Can you do QueryByExample? (Query on each field in a window ... can the queries use wildcards?) 5) Is it really just a C-based language with a pretty front end? (Does it use a pre-compiler to generate C++ code?) 6) Does it use a 4GL language ... How similar to Informix-4GL is the non-OO code? 7) Hows the learning curve if youve worked with other similar packages? 8) What additional tools/classes should I purchase if I were to begin programming in Delphi tomorrow. 9) Which other tools should I consider INSTEAD of Delphi (NewEra and Java excluded) 10) Any additional input would be appreciated! Thanx in advance Bob