Vb6 support in the future

[Vbstr]

I read that Microsoft said they had no plans to support vb6 in windows 8, but my question to you guys is, do you really think they'd make it so vb6 runtimes won't work? IDC about the ide, I mean even 16bit apps work up till vista I think, also there's so many massive vb6 projects out there that companies haven't converted to .net. Further I continue to see vb6 users active, new code etc... and before Microsoft abandoned vb6 coders it was one of the most popular languages in the world. Thoughts?

[LaVolpe]

In this section of the forums was a topic regarding Win8, recently. While replying to that thread, I found a link that basically said that Win8 is Win7 technology with some enhancements; no new technology. If that is true, then VB6 will be supported on Win8. Whether the VB runtimes are preinstalled or not, we'll have to wait and see. But for all of us VB6ers out there, it's just a matter of wait and see for a definitive answer.

[Nightwalker83]

There are multiple threads on the subject of whether VB6 will be supported in the future try searching the forums.

[Vbstr]

Thanks for the informative answer LaVolpe. Also I appreciate you remaining active in the vb6 section, i've seen your nick in a number of places, contribute quality stuff, it'd be a shame to lose someone of your caliber. I understand why people upgrade to .net, the benefits it offers, but vb6 has a lot of benefits of its own too IMHO. I guess being forced to upgrade/rewrite ones code to .Net is inevitable regardless though :\

[baja_yu]

Did you mean:

There are multiple threads on the subject of whether VB6 will be supported in the future, try searching the forums.

or

There are multiple threads on the subject of whether VB6 will be supported, in the future try searching the forums.

[Vbstr]

I don't need sarcastic responses friends, i'm well aware of the search button, and have used it. But my understanding is staff here doesn't typically like people to post in older threads, as new threads = new content, which helps the site rank better in google. Also as we get closer to win8 beta(should be this year if I read correctly) asking if anyone had anymore knowledge on the subject(as things could of changed) isn't a bad thing. I don't know if LaVolpe posted his answer in other threads, but if not, I think his response was very valuable and goes beyond opinion and goes into research and facts, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

[Shaggy Hiker]

You're in chit chat. Out here, we believe in stretching, including stretching to make a joke.

One thing is that this question seems to have come up with every version of Windows since XP. Basically, there has been some hint that VB6 will not be supported...and then it is. One might conclude that this is actually a plan on the part of MS to push people to switch over so that VB6 can be left out, but I think that it is less planned. I would say that MS just doesn't plan to include it and says so early on. Eventually, it gets added back in.

After going through this enough times, I think it is safe to say that you will hear this about EVERY new version of Windows before it comes out, until, at some distant time, it turns out to be true. I would say that won't happen before 10 or 11, but I am completely confident in saying that MS does not plan to support VB6 in Windows 9...because somebody is going to say it, so I might as well.

Ignore the problem. For one thing, unless you upgrade the day the OS comes out, you will know for certain well before it impacts you. For another thing, there isn't squat that you can do about it. If you were going to convert over, then do so. Not because of the lack of support, but for the features or the lack of support for a language that is over a decade out of date, or any other reason of your choice. If you weren't going to convert, then don't.

[Nightwalker83]

Did you mean:

My original post is what I meant because I was referring to VB6 not whether or not vbstr had searched the forum before hand.

[Kasracer]

I had thought VB6 required 16-bit support, which Vista and Windows 7 x64 did not include. Does VB6 run on 64-bit operating systems?

I believe Windows 8 or Windows 9 is said to be 64-bit only so if VB6 doesn't run in 64-bit then I'd venture to guess VB6 would discontinue at that point.

[baja_yu]

Wether it's 64bit only or not, it'll likely have WOW support like Vista and 7 have so they can run 32bit software as well, which currently allow you to run VB6 on 64bit 7.

[Kasracer]

Wether it's 64bit only or not, it'll likely have WOW support like Vista and 7 have so they can run 32bit software as well, which currently allow you to run VB6 on 64bit 7.

32-bit software, yes but not 16-bit software which is what I was wondering.

After doing some Googling, I noticed that VB6 apps are 32-bit (I didn't know for sure) so yeah, that should work at least for now i'd imagine. Old 16-bit applications won't work but they haven't worked for years on XP and Vista x64 so that's a bit moot.

[Nightwalker83]

Does VB6 run on 64-bit operating systems?

Yes, I have it installed on my WIN7 64-bit ASUS laptop.

[arunb]

No there won't be any support. Microsoft has disowned its own child....

Don't waste your time learning VB 6.0, move onto .net technologies or even C++

[MarMan]

Don't get "support VB6" confused with "run VB6 exes". They are different animals.

There no longer is any VB6 support. Not in Windows 7. What does this mean? It means Microsoft may ship what VB6 apps need to run, and those apps may well work. But if you have a problem with something and call Microsoft and anywhere in the chain is a VB6 (or older) app, they can at their leisure say "We don't support that" and terminate their assistance. They can also decide to help. If they don't support it then they are not bound. And if they don't support something, then that means it WILL break in the future. We just don't know when.
VB1-VB4 = 16 bit
VB4-VB6 = 32 bit

[RhinoBull]

Don't get "support VB6" confused with "run VB6 exes". They are different animals.
There no longer is any VB6 support. Not in Windows 7.

What does this mean?

It means that your statement is False.
The question was whether or not you can run apps developed in VB6 under Win7 and beyond and answer is "Yes, you can so far".
Win7 OS fully supports (so will Win8 as far as I am aware) VB6 runtimes as well as IDE (with few minor exceptions), although technical support for the VB6 as product was dropped but this part is not OP's concern.

[MarMan]

The question was whether or not you can run apps developed in VB6 under Win7 and beyond

Actually that is your interpretation of the question, and not the question in question. The question is at the top of the screen, and you can read it for yourself. It is "Vb6 support in the future".

Support means different things depending on which company you are speaking to. I was explaining things from a Microsoft perspective, since many people do not understand where they are coming from, so I am glad I could teach you something Rhino.

[baja_yu]

Actually that is your interpretation of the question, and not the question in question. The question is at the top of the screen, and you can read it for yourself. It is "Vb6 support in the future".

Support means different things depending on which company you are speaking to. I was explaining things from a Microsoft perspective, since many people do not understand where they are coming from, so I am glad I could teach you something Rhino.

I wouldn't agree. Though you could conclude that from the title, the post itself makes it abundantly clear that OP is talking about support for executing VB6 apps on future installments of Windows, and not technical support from MS.

[MarMan]

I seem to have a hard time properly explaining myself. I will try again. It wasn't so much as technical support from microsoft (although I used that as an example, it seems my example was taken as my statement), it was about microsoft windows supporting older vb apps. microsoft can at any time it wants provide a service pack that will cause older vb apps to fail since they do not support them. they could all fail, some could fail, non could fail. There is no way to know. Then you have to decide what the service pack include to see if it is something you can live without.

[dilettante]

Then we have the example of Win7 SP1, which broke ADO binary compatibility. Or Vista SPs that broke Shell32 and ADOX binary compatibility (fixed later in later SPs).

This doesn't mean you can't compile VB6 programs under Win7 SP1, but that you won't want to. It also breaks everything else that uses ADO in the same way, so it isn't a "VB6 support" issue. We wait for a hotfix, the next SP, or do a workaround.

Crap happens.

[MarMan]

This doesn't mean you can't compile VB6 programs under Win7 SP1, but that you won't want to

That is exactly what I was trying to say. It appears I was using the wrong words. Just because something works a particular way is no reason to do something that way. Especially if there are reasons not to do it that way.

[dilettante]

Yet I expect the screams from some LARGE customers will result in a fix, in SP2 if not sooner.

VB6 is still huge out in the real world, though mostly due to legacy code.

[RhinoBull]

... I was explaining things from a Microsoft perspective, since many people do not understand where they are coming from...

Do you really understand that? MS as a company can't say that I'm afraid...

... so I am glad I could teach you something Rhino.

That's laughable at best.
I'm hopping at this point in time that you've learnt your lesson of not making statement before doing some sort of research especially about MS.

[MarMan]

@Rhino, I have spoken to people at MS and they have explained issues for me. If you ever do, you'll know what I meant.

[Vbstr]

Thanks for your guys responses. I guess I should of made the topic more clear, when I said support, I meant VB6 produced binaries being able to run correctly on windows 8. The IDE itself, and technical support wasn't a concern, but I do understand the point made that once the technical support officially ended awhile ago, it made vb6 more susceptible to breakage in the future. I'm going to continue to develop in vb6 because I enjoy it, until I feel it's right to convert it to .net or another language.

[RhinoBull]

Thanks for your guys responses. I guess I should of made the topic more clear, when I said support, I meant VB6 produced binaries being able to run correctly on windows 8.

It looks so far like VB6 will have no problem under Win8 but read very first reply one more time.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'm going to continue to develop in vb6 because I enjoy it, until I feel it's right to convert it to .net or another language.

I would add this point, that others here would echo: I loved VB5/6, and wrote lots of programs in it. Eventually, I was pushed to .NET, but only to write mobile apps (VB6 had no such support unless you count the horrid eVB). At first I was a bit reluctant since .NET was quite new and I so much enjoyed VB6. Once I got into .NET a little, though, I never went back to VB6 again.

It is a different language, and people are often challenged by the learning curve, but you mastered one language, and would master the other with reasonable speed. You might find, as I did, that .NET is even more enjoyable.