> you still have to compile it to all platforms. And have to debug it on all platforms That's no problem at all. In case of Qt I only need a C++98 compiler for

> you still have to compile it to all platforms. And have to debug it on all platforms That's no problem at all. In case of Qt I only need a C++98 compiler for each platform, and also Qt Creator is available everywhere. Usually I only have to debug on the development platform though, since it is the same code on all platforms, and the framework in use abstracts the platform away. > And still have to download, hunt down in the file system and potentially require admin to grant rights to run it Downloading is not really an issue, is it? Just download one ZIP or TAR.GZ or DMG, unpack it and run the executable. No admin rights required. > Qt Creator is horrid, Qt C++ is a weird language of its own and requires hackery like moc Well, that's your opinion. In fact the tool is very good, the call and linking of moc and generated files is transparent, and C++ is an excellent work horse. > do something not included in Qt, it's often welcome to the hell that is CMake et all. No problem at all. Of course you have to know both Qt and C++ good enough, but that's something a developer can master. > Delphi is proprietary, Windows-only and the language is niche and IMHO not very good even compared to Qt C++ There is FreePascal/Lazarus which is open source and runs even on more platforms than Qt. Even Delphi runs on other platforms. Whether you prefer C++ or Object Pascal is a matter of taste.