After using Delphi professionally for some years, I pretty much hated it. Some of my least favorite features are automatic and locale-dependent string/WideString conversions, and that there are multiple memory models: interfaces (IUnknown) uses reference counting, TComponent is owner-based, and lots of other classes require manual memory management.

On the other hand, the object system has some nice features. I miss AfterConstruction and BeforeDestruction in other languages, and I like virtual constructors.