Hello Everyone,

I have been working on a few applications in VB 6.0 for about 8 months now
and pondering if I should pay any attention to all the buzz around .NET. My
only reason for switching to .NET would be if I simply couldn't run my VB
6.0 applications on Windows anymore. Is this the case in Windows 2K or XP?
Will it be the case when Longhorn is released? In everyones opinion, how
long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?

Thanks!
Anthony

> I have been working on a few applications in VB 6.0 for about 8 months now
> and pondering if I should pay any attention to all the buzz around .NET.
My
> only reason for switching to .NET would be if I simply couldn't run my VB
> 6.0 applications on Windows anymore. Is this the case in Windows 2K or XP?
> Will it be the case when Longhorn is released? In everyones opinion, how
> long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?

..NET is simply a program (not an operating system), so loading it (or
simply its existence) will not render any other programs (VB6 or otherwise)
inoperative. So, your copy of VB6 and the programs it creates will work fine
up to the current version of Windows. As to Longhorn... well, I guess
Microsoft could code it in such a way as to make VB6 and/or its compiled
programs stop working (whether intentionally or through oversight); but I
seriously doubt that will happen. There are literally millions of VB
applications in use in businesses worldwide. If Longhorn were to make them
all non-functioning, then I doubt that Longhorn would sell very well in the
business community. No business will want to devote the time, expense and
man-power to rewriting the vast array of existing programs (some of which
are surely mission-critical) that work well just so they can move up to a
new operating system. And even if they did, the time required to rewrite
those applications would cause a significant delay in introducing Longhorn
such that Microsoft would find it hard to accept.

Rick - MVP

"Anonymous Poster" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
> Hello Everyone,
>
> I have been working on a few applications in VB 6.0 for about 8 months now
> and pondering if I should pay any attention to all the buzz around .NET. My
> only reason for switching to .NET would be if I simply couldn't run my VB
> 6.0 applications on Windows anymore. Is this the case in Windows 2K or XP?
> Will it be the case when Longhorn is released? In everyones opinion, how
> long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?


At least until 2008 when MS pulls all support for that tool.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/support/vb6.aspx

But, it may be (it should be) that VB6 applications may be installed on
later OS's. For example VB3 (16-bit) programs will also run on NT
(32-bit) OS's. To be sure, you'd have to get the facts from MS....

LFS





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Gentleman,

Thank you both for your excellent replies. It certainly puts my mind at ease
in regards to VB 6.

Anthony

But ... if they also pulled support for NT4 .. and have now backtracked due
to the huge installation base.

--

Randy Birch
MVP Visual Basic
http://www.mvps.org/vbnet/
Please respond only to the newsgroups so all can benefit.


"Larry Serflaten" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
news:EMAIL REMOVED...
: "Anonymous Poster" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
: > Hello Everyone,
: >
: > I have been working on a few applications in VB 6.0 for about 8 months
now
: > and pondering if I should pay any attention to all the buzz around .NET.
My
: > only reason for switching to .NET would be if I simply couldn't run my
VB
: > 6.0 applications on Windows anymore. Is this the case in Windows 2K or
XP?
: > Will it be the case when Longhorn is released? In everyones opinion, how
: > long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?
:
:
: At least until 2008 when MS pulls all support for that tool.
:
: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/support/vb6.aspx
:
: But, it may be (it should be) that VB6 applications may be installed on
: later OS's. For example VB3 (16-bit) programs will also run on NT
: (32-bit) OS's. To be sure, you'd have to get the facts from MS....
:
: LFS
:
:
:
:
:
: -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
: http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
: -----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

"Anonymous Poster" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
news:EMAIL REMOVED s.com...

>... how
> long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?
>

Forever.. we still have apps from VB3 !

"Raoul Watson" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message news:<9lRAb.1552$EMAIL REMOVED>...
> "Anonymous Poster" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
> news:EMAIL REMOVED s.com...
>
> >... how
> > long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?
> >
>
> Forever.. we still have apps from VB3 !

Those blinders you have on may be a problem down the road...
As an example: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,44553,00.asp

I have much less trust than Rick that future versions of Windows will
be as able to run VB apps; at least not without serious performance
issues.

I just read today that XP is due to be pulled from the
OEM market in 2005. So now I'm thinking, the heck
with VB and VB.Net. There's a more pressing question:
Is it still worth upgrading to Longhorn, or at this late
date should I just wait for the next release?


> > >... how
> > > long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?
> > >
> >
> > Forever.. we still have apps from VB3 !
>
> Those blinders you have on may be a problem down the road...
> As an example: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,44553,00.asp
>
> I have much less trust than Rick that future versions of Windows will
> be as able to run VB apps; at least not without serious performance
> issues.

IMHO, ms can not afford to exclude corporations whose legacy applications
are developed in VB4, 5 and 6. So I don't foresee any issues with longhorn
and the ability to run existing applications.

--

Randy Birch
MVP Visual Basic
http://www.mvps.org/vbnet/
Please respond only to the newsgroups so all can benefit.


"mayayana" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
news:JP7Bb.6257$EMAIL REMOVED nk.net...
: I just read today that XP is due to be pulled from the
: OEM market in 2005. So now I'm thinking, the heck
: with VB and VB.Net. There's a more pressing question:
: Is it still worth upgrading to Longhorn, or at this late
: date should I just wait for the next release?
:
:
: > > >... how
: > > > long can I reasonably expect my VB 6 apps to survive?
: > > >
: > >
: > > Forever.. we still have apps from VB3 !
: >
: > Those blinders you have on may be a problem down the road...
: > As an example: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,44553,00.asp
: >
: > I have much less trust than Rick that future versions of Windows will
: > be as able to run VB apps; at least not without serious performance
: > issues.
:
:

"Bob Butler" <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote in message
news:EMAIL REMOVED m...

> Those blinders you have on may be a problem down the road...
> As an example: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,44553,00.asp
>

As a head of software development for over 15 years, I *know* Microsoft.
There are too many applications developed in VB. For them to make an OS that
will "break" the app, just won't happen.

If the app break, then the programmer is doing something not kosher like
using undocumented calls or functions.