Status of Visual Basic : basic.visual

This newsgroup seems to be the logical place to ask questions about
the status of visual basic. I have vb98 and used it for several years
until about 2003. I understand it is no longer supported by
Microsoft.

One question I have is: is vb6 still in wide use by developers - home
hobbyists in particular and is this newsgroup the right place to ask
about using it, about problems using it , etc?

Another question: I have seen places on the net for free downloads of
Microsoft VB 2005 Express. I think I also saw a reference to vb2008
express. Are those items updates of VB6 that someone is maintaining
- for FREE. Or exactly what is the deal with these?

Please forgive these questions from an out-of-date VB home programmer
who wants to get back into it..

Lou

Lou Jade wrote:
> This newsgroup seems to be the logical place to ask questions about
> the status of visual basic. I have vb98 and used it for several
> years until about 2003. I understand it is no longer supported by
> Microsoft.

The 'original' 32-bit versions of VB were 4, 5, and 6. VB98 is not an
official version number.

None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows
(and for the most part, on Linux via WINE).


> One question I have is: is vb6 still in wide use by developers -
> home hobbyists in particular and is this newsgroup the right place
> to ask about using it, about problems using it , etc?

Yes, VB6 is still heavily used, by home / hobbyist programmers and in
offices, shops and businesses worldwide.

It's peer-supported here, and in the microsoft.public.vb... tree.


> Another question: I have seen places on the net for free downloads
> of Microsoft VB 2005 Express. I think I also saw a reference to
> vb2008 express. Are those items updates of VB6 that someone is
> maintaining
> - for FREE. Or exactly what is the deal with these?

None of the VB.NET (or DotNet or Express, etc) can rightly be
considered updates to VB6. They're major departures from the old line,
and very little VB6 code will run unchanged in .NET.

The 2005 and 2008 downloads are based on different versions of the
..NET framework. They're fine of you want to learn VB.NET, but remember
that learning VB.NET is really learning (some version of) the .NET
framework. You might find C# a better alternative -- it has an actual
standard behind it and so is less likely to be abandoned by MS.

--
Jim

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:27:13 -0400, "Jim Mack" <no-uce-ube@mdxi.com>
wrote:

>Lou Jade wrote:
>> This newsgroup seems to be the logical place to ask questions about
>> the status of visual basic. I have vb98 and used it for several
>> years until about 2003. I understand it is no longer supported by
>> Microsoft.
>
>The 'original' 32-bit versions of VB were 4, 5, and 6. VB98 is not an
>official version number.
>
>None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
>VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows
>(and for the most part, on Linux via WINE).
>
>
>> One question I have is: is vb6 still in wide use by developers -
>> home hobbyists in particular and is this newsgroup the right place
>> to ask about using it, about problems using it , etc?
>
>Yes, VB6 is still heavily used, by home / hobbyist programmers and in
>offices, shops and businesses worldwide.
>
>It's peer-supported here, and in the microsoft.public.vb... tree.
>
>
>> Another question: I have seen places on the net for free downloads
>> of Microsoft VB 2005 Express. I think I also saw a reference to
>> vb2008 express. Are those items updates of VB6 that someone is
>> maintaining
>> - for FREE. Or exactly what is the deal with these?
>
>None of the VB.NET (or DotNet or Express, etc) can rightly be
>considered updates to VB6. They're major departures from the old line,
>and very little VB6 code will run unchanged in .NET.
>
>The 2005 and 2008 downloads are based on different versions of the
>.NET framework. They're fine of you want to learn VB.NET, but remember
>that learning VB.NET is really learning (some version of) the .NET
>framework. You might find C# a better alternative -- it has an actual
>standard behind it and so is less likely to be abandoned by MS.

Thanks for the quick reply, Jim. The VB98 I referred to was vb
version 6.0.x that came with the Visual Studio version that I bought
in 1998. I presume that version is still in use by members of this
newsgroup. I still have the old installation cd but am not sure it
will still work if I try to install it on a new pc. Are there sources
you know of to get a copy of vb6 if my copy is corrupt?
Lou

On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:50:19 GMT, Lou Jade wrote:

> Thanks for the quick reply, Jim. The VB98 I referred to was vb
> version 6.0.x that came with the Visual Studio version that I bought
> in 1998. I presume that version is still in use by members of this
> newsgroup. I still have the old installation cd but am not sure it
> will still work if I try to install it on a new pc. Are there sources
> you know of to get a copy of vb6 if my copy is corrupt?

I just bought an unopened (still shrink-wrapped, even) copy of VS6 at a local
thrift store chain. Got it for US$10. Looks very pretty next to my old copy.
:-)

You might find copies on ebay.

--
- I have an idea.
- It's amazing that four little words can inspire so much fear...

On Oct 27, 3:27 pm, "Jim Mack" <no-uce-...@mdxi.com> wrote:
>
> None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
> VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows

I thought Windows Vista broke all VB 6.0 programs. Am I wrong?

Jake

PS: Great reply!

"jake" <peppy54@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:869ab3bd-3a73-44bc-b871-51a4d487e251@a29g2000pra.googlegroups.com...
On Oct 27, 3:27 pm, "Jim Mack" <no-uce-...@mdxi.com> wrote:
>
> None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
> VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows

I thought Windows Vista broke all VB 6.0 programs. Am I wrong?

============================

Yes.

-ralph

> > None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
> > VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows
>
> I thought Windows Vista broke all VB 6.0 programs. Am I wrong?
>
> ============================
>
> Yes.


As in... yes, you were wrong :-)

Even VB5 created apps run fine on Vista... provided you follow "rules" Vista
more strictly enforces (but that's the case for any app created in any
lang).

jake <peppy54@yahoo.com>'s wild thoughts were released on
Thu, 6 Nov 2008 19:04:23 -0800 (PST) bearing the following
fruit:

>On Oct 27, 3:27 pm, "Jim Mack" <no-uce-...@mdxi.com> wrote:
>>
>> None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
>> VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows
>
>I thought Windows Vista broke all VB 6.0 programs. Am I wrong?

You are wrong.

--
Jan Hyde (VB MVP)

https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Jan.Hyde

On Nov 7, 3:08 am, "Jan Hyde (VB MVP)"
<StellaDrin...@REMOVE.ME.uboot.com> wrote:
> jake <pepp...@yahoo.com>'s wild thoughts were released on
> Thu, 6 Nov 2008 19:04:23 -0800 (PST) bearing the following
> fruit:
>
> >On Oct 27, 3:27 pm, "Jim Mack" <no-uce-...@mdxi.com> wrote:
>
> >> None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
> >> VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows
>
> >I thought Windows Vista broke all VB 6.0 programs.  Am I wrong?
>
> You are wrong.
>
> --
> Jan Hyde (VB MVP)
>
> https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Jan.Hyde

I'm glad to hear that. I haven't been hanging out here very much in
the
last few years. I'm at a point where I can either retire in a year
or
work another 4 or more years. My work environment is Win 2000 and XP
& VB6.
A couple years ago I was reading of the trouble scaling to Vista with
VB6.
I just decided I'd had enough of taking class after class re-learning
my
profession everytime M$FT sneezed. Decided then to go out early and
take up
running, golf or fishing again.
Probably will still go out next year, don't think there's much demand
for 6.0 skills.

Thanks for your replies.

Jake

jake <peppy54@yahoo.com>'s wild thoughts were released on
Fri, 7 Nov 2008 16:38:18 -0800 (PST) bearing the following
fruit:

>On Nov 7, 3:08 am, "Jan Hyde (VB MVP)"
><StellaDrin...@REMOVE.ME.uboot.com> wrote:
>> jake <pepp...@yahoo.com>'s wild thoughts were released on
>> Thu, 6 Nov 2008 19:04:23 -0800 (PST) bearing the following
>> fruit:
>>
>> >On Oct 27, 3:27 pm, "Jim Mack" <no-uce-...@mdxi.com> wrote:
>>
>> >> None of those is still officially supported by MS. The VB6 IDE, and
>> >> VB6 compiled programs, do still work fine on all versions of Windows
>>
>> >I thought Windows Vista broke all VB 6.0 programs.  Am I wrong?
>>
>> You are wrong.
>>
>> --
>> Jan Hyde (VB MVP)
>>
>> https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Jan.Hyde
>
>I'm glad to hear that. I haven't been hanging out here very much in
>the
>last few years. I'm at a point where I can either retire in a year
>or
>work another 4 or more years. My work environment is Win 2000 and XP
>& VB6.
>A couple years ago I was reading of the trouble scaling to Vista with
>VB6.
>I just decided I'd had enough of taking class after class re-learning
>my
>profession everytime M$FT sneezed. Decided then to go out early and
>take up
>running, golf or fishing again.
>Probably will still go out next year, don't think there's much demand
>for 6.0 skills.

I believe VB6 jobs will pay a lot of money in the future. A
lot of developers jumped ship and won't touch VB6 anymore;
and new developers are hardly going to use it either.
However there is still a huge codebase out there and there
will be for years to come.
--
Jan Hyde (VB MVP)

https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Jan.Hyde