Moving to VB.NET and WIN 11 Home

[AccessShell]

I will try not to be wordy, but I need help in moving on to WIN 11. The background is important. I have written VB6 for over 20 years, and VB4, and vb3, before that. (Don’t remember vb5). I write no for myself only. I am not in a business. I write a lot of code interacting with Access, Excel and Word. Since I have been writing in VB6. the newest Office I can use is Office Pro 2003
Now I am on WIN 10 Home ESU. I have converted my important V6 programs to VB.NET using VS2022. And I have learned, the hard way, about the GC and marshalling to clean up.

So now I need to think about a newer office. I do not like subscriptions, so I settled on Office 2024. I know there is no Office Pro 2024 (Word, Access, Excel). But that’s not the issue. Office 2024 does not come with Access. I need to get separately. What I don’t know is.

1. Do I have to wait until I have WIN 11 to install Office 2024 and Access 2024?
2. Can Office 2003 pro and Office 2024 and Access 2024 coexist?
3. The programs that I updated to VB.NET target any CPU. Do I keep that?
4. I don’t understand enough about BITS 2003 is 32 bit, 2024 is 86 (?)
5. I think, I cannot mix and match MSFT products?
6. I was told that the 32 bit install switch on install is hidden.

There may be more questions that I don’t even know to ask.

Thanks

[.paul.]

Microsoft Office 2024 is fully supported on Windows 10, provided you are using a standard x86/x64-based PC.

[.paul.]

Yes, Microsoft Access 2024 officially runs on Windows 10.
If your hardware permits, it would be worthwhile installing Win 11

[.paul.]

Yes you can have two versions of office…. But,
Bit Architecture (32-bit vs. 64-bit): Both versions must share the same architecture. Since Office 2003 is exclusively 32-bit, you must install the 32-bit version of Office/Access 2024 for them to coexist.

[AccessShell]

I will be moving to WIN 11 before the Oct 2026 requirement. I am just trying to figure out how to get Word, Excel, and Access. I understand there is no product Office 2024 similar to Office 2003 that has Access included. .Paul, I think you are saying I cannot install a 32 bit Office 2024. If true, I have to delete 2003, add 2024 and the make the programs work. Probably no logic changes, but links to connect the ,NET programs to Office

[Shaggy Hiker]

Sincde you are making a change, it might be worth considering even more alternatives. You might well reject them, but now is certainly the time to consider them.

You are making use of Access. For what? Access is a pretty useful tool, but I found it to be more useful using the Jet database engine, which is 32-bit only. If you are going to go 64-bit, then you'd be looking at something other than Jet. Those exist, and it's no big deal, but does it still make sense to stick with Access at that point? You might also consider SQL Server Express. There is a learning curve due to the difference between SQL Server and Access. Annoyingly, while the SQL itself is ALMOST the same, it is not EXACTLY the same. For example, if you put a date literal into a query, you use single quotes in SQL Server and # in Access.

However, there are several advantages to SQL Server. For one thing, it is a more robust engine that has more functions. Named parameters work right (the names are meaningful, it isn't just their order that matters as is the case with Access). You don't get the occasional database corruption that Access was prone to (though you may never have encountered that, since it seems to be most prevalent when multiple people use Access over a network). And so on. It may be something to look into, or it may not.

Another, somewhat less likely, possibility is going to something like LibreOffice, the best opensource Office (though I heard that OpenOffice was also revived, so it may not be the ONLY one). I don't know how well the tools and techniques used for Office would translate to LibreOffice, but you might find that they do pretty well.

[dday9]

Here are the answers I know with some references:

Q: Can Office 2003 pro and Office 2024 and Access 2024 coexist?
A: Yes, but only if one of the two products is installed through MSI and you would need to install the older version first. See this article: Install and use different versions of Office on the same PC

Q: The programs that I updated to VB.NET target any CPU. Do I keep that?
A: This depends on if you're using ACE or JET. If you're using the Jet Database Engine, then you should use x86 because JET only supports 32-bit. If you're using Access Connectivity Engine (ACE), then you could continue using any CPU since it supports both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. See this article: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Jet and Jet ODBC driver are available in 32-bit versions only

I'd defer to the others about your other questions.

[AccessShell]

Shaggy Hiker, A long time ago I tried to write VB6 code with Libre Office, their versions of Excel and Word. I could not do it. No one at the Libre forums or the VB forums could help. AT that time a connection between the two were not possible. I haven't look at it since, If a new Libre Office is available in WIN 11, and it is compatible wiht VB6 or VB.NET, I would look at it.