*I* stayed with the older Delphi compilers ~ because they simply work. Now, D7's IDE is a buggy beast! But, still great when inventing new components.
So - these are my free Gradient Controls. Just to help others who do not want to waste thousands of dollars to upgrade to a version of Delphi that has extended the "themes.pas" that was in Delphi 7.
If you send me a post-card from your city... you will get the Advanced Gradient controls bundle: