Xtol vs. D-76 for Tri-X, and Delta 400

I had an unavoidable absence from being active in darkroom stuff for a while (couple of years)and now I'm back.

Not too long ago I read that the combination of Xtol and Delta 400 gave dynamite sharp resolution. I'd never heard of Xtol, and didn't even know who made it. Then I read that Kodak had improved their D-76 rather than try to improve their films, and that Xtol had replaced D-76 for all practical purposes.

What's going on here? When I left, D-76 was king; I used it for Tri-X (1:1) and T-Max (straight) with happy results.

So my questions are: does any right thinking person now use D-76 instead of Xtol and if so when and why? Does any right thinking person now use Xtol instead of D-76 and if so when and why? Are there any warnings or cautions for using Xtol instead of D-76 for Tri-X and T-Max? And does using Xtol with Delta 400 really produce outstandingly sharp images?

BTW, I shoot both 35mm and 2 1/4.

Thanks.

--Paul Arnold

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