FYI - VS/VB 6 on Windows 7

Hello all,

This is not a question, but an FYI.

This may be old news to some of you, but for those that are not aware, if you have Windows 7, MS provides a free "Virtual PC" that runs "XP Mode" that you can download from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/vir.../download.aspx

Once you set it up, you can run XP in a separate window from your Win 7 desktop (from my perspective, it feels like you are running "gotomypc" or VNC or something similar). Anyway, all your Win 7 drives and folders are automatically shared on the virtual XP box. Anyway, this makes it easy to install VS/VB6 - there are none of the headaches that I have seen reported by folks trying to install VS/VB6 on Vista or Win 7. I was able to install VS6, then SP 5, then I registered some other AX controls I use(d), and loaded up an old VB6 app, and it worked without a hitch.

It is true I was a VB6 holdout for longer than most, but I did move over to the "dark side" of .NET over 2 1/2 years ago and have not done any new VB6 development since then; however I still do have a fair number of VB6 apps to maintain. This is my first development box that runs an OS higher than XP (although I have tested VB6 apps on Vista boxes).

So I just wanted to share this with you, and recommend this option for those of you who need to run VS/VB6 on a Win 7 box. Again to reiterate, AFAIK, the "Virtual XP box" option is only available on Win 7 (not Vista).

Thanks for the info.... :)

Thanks for the FYI. Sooner or later I and others will be forced to let go of our XP. I swore I'd never touch Vista and I'm glad I didn't.

With care VB6 can be installed and used on either Vista 32 or 64-bit. I have not tried installing it into Windows 7 yet, but I see nothing there to prevent it from working much as in Vista.

If you avoided Vista because it didn't tolerate sloppy technique I'm afraid Windows 7 will still be a disappointment to you. I've been writing and testing VB6 programs for both Vista and Windows 7 now for some time. Neither tolerates coloring outside the lines well.

The one thing Windows 7 brought to the table was really XP Mode. Of course this requires Pro, Enterprise, or Ultimate and a CPU supporting hardware-based virtualization enhancements. XP Mode was not meant for home users.

I have been running vb6 under Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate for about a month and have not encountered any issues at all with vb6. I have been working full time on the internationalization of one of my applications. I am not satisfied with Win 7 at all but, I kind of had to move on. Talk to me about:

1. non functional common printer drivers
2. endless software incompatibilities (impossible to count, thanks for the warnings during installation but how about help with the thousands of dollars I might have to spend to upgrade so many apps)
3. inability to copy either .iso files or .mp3 files from Win Server 2008 (really a 2K8 problem)
4. at least one more click than XP to any simple task
5. necessity of turning off UAC
6. inability to run Virtual Server 2005 R2
7. interface that anticipates everything you don't want to do but does it anyway
8. gigantic 11 GiB footprint (Bigfoot would be proud; I think he lives near Redmond.)
9. two clicks instead of one to get to the system tray
10. annoying obfuscation of the true addresses of special folders and hiding the method for turning off the obfuscation
11. can't we ever get rid of cute names My Picture, My Documents, etc?
12. don't even think about installing a data file to C:\Program Files (x86) Ha! Ha! Gotcha!
13. sorry, can't run Symantec 11d backup agent anymore

Just to be fair here are a couple of good things:

1. boots as quickly as XP
2. is capable of using more than 3 GiB of memory
3. somewhat appealing interface (even if robs useful screen area with gratuitous Aero effects)
4. maximizing windows by moving to the edge of the screen
5. Segoe and Consolas fonts (easy to read)
6. Big icons are easy for OFs like me to see
7. Start Menu operation is much improved
8. XP mode is a nice feature but couldn't we have it with an interface that utilizes a conventional UI of any kind. I dread dissecting this to understand what is really going on.

I could go on and on; I guess I already have. I did complain about moving from NT 4.0 to 2K. A long time ago I complained about XP and didn't switch from 2K to XP until 3 years ago. I then started to like XP, if only because it booted a lot faster than 2K. I only tried Vista to the extent that I could test my applications and make sure that they displayed well. I never used it as on OS on my main development machine.

OOPS!, I wish to digress for a moment, I thought Windows 3.1 was a fundamentally ridiculous option compared to running QEMM under DOS and used to love programming in RBASE. Why would anyone want to waste processor power on a fancy user interface? The world changes but it seems that I don't want to. But at least vb6 still works.

I am making plans to port my key applications to Embarcadero Delphi in the event that Microsoft decides inadvertently or vertantly(?) to kill vb6 in future OSs. For the moment I am just having fun redoing certain things in the Delphi environment. It's fun but I don't have time. Dot net is out from my point of view because it is a heavyweight solution to my small problems. Who wants a 120mB download for a db application as opposed to a 4mB one? I need to be able to get people to try the app to make the sales. My fondest desire is that Microsoft not kill compatibility with vb6 in future OSs. I don't even think about support; this kind of forum is better than anything MS would offer.

In summary:

• I think we are lucky that things still work OK.
• I have little hope that this will remain the case.
• We should be more willing to explore new environments, programming and operating systems, that allow us to make programming investments that will pay off for more than a year or two.

Sorry for the ranting ramble, if necessary get your flame throwers and operate them at their full capacity!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alweis

I have been running vb6 under Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate for about a month and have not encountered any issues at all with vb6. I have been working full time on the internationalization of one of my applications. I am not satisfied with Win 7 at all but, I kind of had to move on. Talk to me about:

1. non functional common printer drivers
2. endless software incompatibilities (impossible to count, thanks for the warnings during installation but how about help with the thousands of dollars I might have to spend to upgrade so many apps)
3. inability to copy either .iso files or .mp3 files from Win Server 2008 (really a 2K8 problem)
4. at least one more click than XP to any simple task
5. necessity of turning off UAC
6. inability to run Virtual Server 2005 R2
7. interface that anticipates everything you don't want to do but does it anyway
8. gigantic 11 GiB footprint (Bigfoot would be proud; I think he lives near Redmond.)
9. two clicks instead of one to get to the system tray
10. annoying obfuscation of the true addresses of special folders and hiding the method for turning off the obfuscation
11. can't we ever get rid of cute names My Picture, My Documents, etc?
12. don't even think about installing a data file to C:\Program Files (x86) Ha! Ha! Gotcha!
13. sorry, can't run Symantec 11d backup agent anymore

Just to be fair here are a couple of good things:

1. boots as quickly as XP
2. is capable of using more than 3 GiB of memory
3. somewhat appealing interface (even if robs useful screen area with gratuitous Aero effects)
4. maximizing windows by moving to the edge of the screen
5. Segoe and Consolas fonts (easy to read)
6. Big icons are easy for OFs like me to see
7. Start Menu operation is much improved
8. XP mode is a nice feature but couldn't we have it with an interface that utilizes a conventional UI of any kind. I dread dissecting this to understand what is really going on.

I could go on and on; I guess I already have. I did complain about moving from NT 4.0 to 2K. A long time ago I complained about XP and didn't switch from 2K to XP until 3 years ago. I then started to like XP, if only because it booted a lot faster than 2K. I only tried Vista to the extent that I could test my applications and make sure that they displayed well. I never used it as on OS on my main development machine.

OOPS!, I wish to digress for a moment, I thought Windows 3.1 was a fundamentally ridiculous option compared to running QEMM under DOS and used to love programming in RBASE. Why would anyone want to waste processor power on a fancy user interface? The world changes but it seems that I don't want to. But at least vb6 still works.

I am making plans to port my key applications to Embarcadero Delphi in the event that Microsoft decides inadvertently or vertantly(?) to kill vb6 in future OSs. For the moment I am just having fun redoing certain things in the Delphi environment. It's fun but I don't have time. Dot net is out from my point of view because it is a heavyweight solution to my small problems. Who wants a 120mB download for a db application as opposed to a 4mB one? I need to be able to get people to try the app to make the sales. My fondest desire is that Microsoft not kill compatibility with vb6 in future OSs. I don't even think about support; this kind of forum is better than anything MS would offer.

In summary:

• I think we are lucky that things still work OK.
• I have little hope that this will remain the case.
• We should be more willing to explore new environments, programming and operating systems, that allow us to make programming investments that will pay off for more than a year or two.

Sorry for the ranting ramble, if necessary get your flame throwers and operate them at their full capacity!

---

Thanks for the info. I cannot see how they can call vista and win 7 a upgrade
I have installed both just to test my vb6 app created with xp and still use xp
for everything. In fact I only went from win2k 2 yrs ago to xp to get away from doing my app screenshots on xp and copying to win2k to give the look of xp.
After installing win 7 i had to google to find how to show my desktop. After looking at vb.net and the huge net framework i decided it was not an option.
Who's to say microsoft will not bail on net like vb6. Started looking real hard at Real Basic, but found it lacking in some areas i needed. When vb6 will longer work I will be switching to some non microsoft software. you have got me to thinking about printing from win 7, never bothered to hook up a printer
and test the printing of my app.