VB5 And VB.NET

[nfdbs]

Hi,
I am using VB5 on a PC running Windows XP. I've read that in the future, Programs written with VB5 will be 'unsupported' on PC's running Windows 8. Does unsupported mean that Programs created with VB5 won't run on Windows 8 or that they will run but Microsoft won't offer any support for any problems?

I'm thinking of downloading Visual Basic Express 2008 and converting my VB5 Programs to VB.NET. Can I run VB5 and VB8 Express on the same PC without affecting my VB5 projects?

Thanks

[Hack]

Can I run VB5 and VB8 Express on the same PC without affecting my VB5 projects?

Yes, you should be able to. I know that it is totally possible with VB6, so it should also be possible with VB5 as well.

[Shaggy Hiker]

By the way, we have heard the same dire warnings about Vista, then Windows 7, and now Windows 8. Will it ever happen? Probably, as all things fall apart eventually, but when it comes to this particular warning, you might as well wait until you see some evidence, as the song has been sung before.

On the other hand, I used to use VB5/6 and loved them, yet I would never voluntarily go back. You may find the same is true. There is a learning curve with moving to .NET, certainly, but after the learning, the benefits are worth it.

[si_the_geek]

As far as I am aware, support for programs created with VB5 actually ended before Vista - and only programs created with VB6 (or VB.Net) have had any kind of support since then.

Just because something is not supported it does not mean that it will fail, just that there is a chance. Note however that some of the technologies that were commonly used in VB5 (such as DAO for database work) are much worse than unsupported and are likely to fail sooner rather than later, so moving on to .Net is definitely a wise move.

As for Windows 8, at the moment we don't even know if VB6 programs will run at all, but there is a reasonable justification for hope.