VB6 Support - Going Forward

[Max Peck]

Guys,

Just thought you might be interested in knowing that Microsoft has committed to support VB6 (including the IDE) all the way through Windows 7. Good news for those of us that still think VB6 is the best way to develop desktop applications.

Click here for the story.

-Max

[RhinoBull]

That's a good news indeed! Thanks for pointing out.

ps, this thread really belongs in Gen Dev forum.

[dilettante]

Yes, Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 was updated last month.

[MartinLiss]

Thread moved.

[Max Peck]

That's a good news indeed! Thanks for pointing out.

ps, this thread really belongs in Gen Dev forum.

Oh? OK, that's fine. Why is "VB6 and Earlier" the wrong place for a VB6 post? Just curious.

-CB

[MartinLiss]

Because it's not a VB question.

[RhinoBull]

I think because you don't necessary ask about VB6 related coding/IDE problem.
Information you've provided is very "general" and is something that every developer/it manager need to know - C#/Java/VB.Net/etc programmers may also be required to support legacy apps.
Also, enterprises planning on retiring old VB6 apps may "relax" for a little longer.

Regards.

[Hack]

Because it's not a VB question.

Precisely....VB6 And Earlier, as well as all of the other technical forum sections are for specific "how do I do this in [language] code?"

Anything else related to a programming topic would go here.

[Pino]

Its good there supporting it in windows 7. However I assume Vb6 still wont be able to exploit the latest and greatest hardware??

Pino

[techgnome]

Just for edification, this doesn't mean that MS will support VB6.... just that VB6 will RUN on Windows 7.... not that you can get support from MS on VB6.

-tg

[Hack]

Just for edification, this doesn't mean that MS will support VB6.... just that VB6 will RUN on Windows 7.... not that you can get support from MS on VB6.

-tg

Thank you Mr. Gnome sir, you took the quote right out of my mouth.

Pino: You are correct in your assumption...to do so would require building in things to VB6 that are not presently there. Microsoft is not about to do that.

[Pino]

Good stuff! As expected - It would be interesting to see how many VB6 Devs there actually are now.

Thanks

[RhinoBull]

...It would be interesting to see how many VB6 Devs there actually are now.

Just out curiosity - what's that got to do with VB6 being supported on various operating systems?

[RobDog888]

Good stuff! As expected - It would be interesting to see how many VB6 Devs there actually are now.

Thanks

Add 1 to your count Pino

Just like with Vista and VB6, its getting harder and harder to take advantage of new features on newer OS'. So if you want to take advantage of new features and experiences then eventually you will have to switch to a language that is current. VB6 jobs are far and few on the job listing boards as compared to VB.NET.

Providing "support" for VB6 in Windows 7 is a no brainer for MS but as mentioned, supporting it going forward is static.

[RhinoBull]

You guys (Pino and Rob) don't seem to be getting the big picture - enterprises maintaining legacy systems written in say VB6 could care less about those "new features".
They do however care about only one thing (in regards to legacy apps of course) and it's simple - will it work under the new os or not. That's all.
Whether there are VB6 jobs offerings or not is absolutely irrelevant.
It's a wonderful thing that MS decided to continue support of legacy software into the future.
Corporations are loosing tons of money, new development is solid frozen mostly, all that's left is [again] mostly maitenance - if anyone of you knew in details how much money is involved I'm sure you wouldn't open this pointless argument.
I applaud MS for this strategic decision.

Regards.

[RobDog888]

I actually work in the "big picture" at a multimillion $ financial Visa/Master Card company and I head up the VB6 apps that run the business. They are wanting me to migrate the VB6 enterprise sized apps to .NET within the next year to two max. If they only cared about get it done and thats all then they wouldnt be fighting so much to get them re-written in .NET. They do care about new features that the .NET Framework brings as greatly enhancing their apps along with the Customer Care Framework from Microsoft which I will be using. Now if they didnt care about features then they would keep the apps in VB6 without worry or concern.

[RhinoBull]

Financial corps are the ones that suffer more than the others, their deficits are in billions. I don't see how they are going to find budget for new development if they are struggling to survive.
Besides, Vista's global deployment failed, W7 won't come arround until maybe in 3 years. I mean it will be available but will be collecting dust on the shelves along side with Vista untill some better time.

... maybe in your town things are different, not in mine though ...

[Pino]

Rhino,

I dont want to start a vb6 vs war I was just generally interested in how many dev's are around about these days. Its interesting to see how/if .net has grown



Pino

[techgnome]

That's assuming you are using one or the other... I still consider myself a VB6er even though I don't actively use it any more. At my last job, we were using both... so any raw numbers would be skewed. Has .NET grown? Well, based completely on the job search I had to do last year, I'd say yes.... my .NET skills were in much greater demand than my VB6 skills. And having both made me an eve hotter commodity.

-tg

[RhinoBull]

... I still consider myself a VB6er even though I don't actively use it any more...

Neither do I for past 5 or so years. However, I do support VB6 forum for specific reason: demand for knowledge is obvious, so somebody has to do it.

Best regards to all.

[Pino]

Interesting to know its difficult for me to grasp some of this. I allways used vb6 right until I started a professional career and I've allways workded at the type of agencys that like to be on top of the latest technology!

Thanks for the info.

Pino

[techgnome]

well, in all fairness, the reason my last job still uses VB6 is that it's a 10yr old legacy app that that has a 20+ install base (that's installed clients.... the number of users at each location range from 5 to 50+) ... and had hundreds of forms that would need to be converted.... unfortunately their type of environment and business plan doesn't allow them to stop all development for a year or two to make the conversion....

-tg

[RobDog888]

Financial corps are the ones that suffer more than the others, their deficits are in billions. I don't see how they are going to find budget for new development if they are struggling to survive.
Besides, Vista's global deployment failed, W7 won't come arround until maybe in 3 years. I mean it will be available but will be collecting dust on the shelves along side with Vista untill some better time.

... maybe in your town things are different, not in mine though ...

Yea I hear alot about that but fortunately my company is one of the few that is growing and profiting. Actually with its business model it thrives even more in a down economy.

When I was doing vb6 job searches I found them few and far between anything to .net ones

[RobDog888]

well, in all fairness, the reason my last job still uses VB6 is that it's a 10yr old legacy app that that has a 20+ install base (that's installed clients.... the number of users at each location range from 5 to 50+) ... and had hundreds of forms that would need to be converted.... unfortunately their type of environment and business plan doesn't allow them to stop all development for a year or two to make the conversion....

-tg

Yes and this is also why some companies are still on green screens

[Shaggy Hiker]

Financial corps are the ones that suffer more than the others, their deficits are in billions. I don't see how they are going to find budget for new development if they are struggling to survive.

TARP money.

[RobDog888]

Oh and dont forget about the Billions of $ they get for their bailouts. Then they spend it and go back for another bailout.

[RhinoBull]

TARP money.

Nah... If they are lucky enough to get any of those they will be forced to payoff their debts first rather than investing.