VB 6.0 Support
There has been much discussion about the pending end of Mainstream support for Visual Basic 6.0. About 2 1/2 years ago Microsoft announced the support details for VB 6.0. On March 31st of this year Mainstream support ends.
There seems to be a bit of confusion in the world and some statements flying around that are not exactly true. Please allow me to take a few moments to clarify. I encourage you to read the details here. This is the end of Mainstream support NOT THE END OF SUPPORT. VB 6.0 will enter a 3 year period of Extended support.
So what does that all mean to the average developer? First off you can continue to get support for VB 6.0 both on the telephone and online. You can still get free self help online. You can continue to get critical updates.
Now the changes. Your support incidents will be a charge. Today you get 2 free phone or online incidents with the product anything beyond that costs you. After you use your 2 incidents today it cost you either $99 or $245 depending on the response time that you want.
If you have already used your incidents you are charged already today so not much will change for you in this area. If you have not used your incidents yet I would encourage you to use them before the end of the month. After the end of Mainstream support you will STILL BE ABLE TO GET SUPPORT on the phone and email. Some folks have been concerned that we are ending support for VB 6.0 on March 31. This is not the case.
Next change, critical updates (hot fixes) will be available for a fee. This is something that each person has to consider for themselves. The product has been out for 6 years and is on SP 6. If you have been using VB 6.0 for years as a developer and you have not run into a critical bug in the product that has not been fixed by one of the prior hotfixes what do you think the odds of over needing to pay for a future critical update? That is a question each developer has to weight.
Critical updates will still be available just not freely downloadable. I do not know that pricing, but if anyone is interested I will try and find out.
So on April 1st VB 6.0 will still be supported the biggest change is that some of the free support will go away now that we are six years after the product was released.
VB will continue to be supported for another 3 years under Extended support.
The rumors of the death of support area greatly exaggerated
Comments
- Anonymous
March 11, 2005
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March 11, 2005
So Brad,
What happens on April 1st 2008--at least as far as support for VB6? - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
In 2008 Extended support will end. At that point customers will be able to work out custom support agreements with Microsoft. This will be a choice each company has to make. Based on the amount of VB 6.0 code that is still in production do they opt to arrange a custom support agreement or is it a non-issue for them.
Each person needs to weigh if I have had this application running for many years and have never called support is not being able to call support something an issue. If the answer is yes then you can set up a custom agreement to have the ability to call support. If you figure you haven't ever called and you don't want to pay for it that is a choice. - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
Please give me a free software to acces toolbar help in visual basic 6.0 or give me msdn sofwaare to actived help toolbar in VB - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
I believe everyone couldn't care less about VB6 if you provide them a seamless migration path to VB.NET with no downtime.
Is it what you have provided so far? Answer : No.
Is it what you'll provide before total end of support? Answer is yours... - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
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March 11, 2005
For any other disgruntled customers please visit :
http://classicvb.org/petition/ - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
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March 11, 2005
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March 11, 2005
I understand that people on both sides of this issue have strong feelings. Can we attempt to keep the comments professional and not personal.
Mature debate and discussion is healthy for everyone. Let's try and check the name calling. I don't mind opposing views, if I did I would moderate and reject comments I disagreed with, lets just have a professional discussion on the issue. - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
What happens with new OS release... will support VB6? - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
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March 11, 2005
Well, i think that is your decision to make changes on the support of VB6, but you could make the critical updates free for all VB6 Developers arround the world!
Why changing the things now? There are many many many VB6 Developers that don't like this change.
So much code for nothing? - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
I have to agree with Anthony D. Green here. Being in the hardware side of computing I see changes to systems ever month, and support for previous ones are dropped before you can say the name of the thing. Its all part of the life cycle of the product which, with technology moving forward at ever increasing speed, mean we , as engineers and developers must take under our belt and learn to learn and relearn.
And definately moving the 200,000 or whatever lines of code to linux means a rewrite rather than an upgrade. - Anonymous
March 11, 2005
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March 12, 2005
You guy's seem to be missing my point altogether.
If i move my code to vb.net, i am looking at a rewrite and for your information, I can code in C, pascal, delphi as well as vb.
vb.net is a million miles from vb6.
Look at the petition. All people like me are looking for is move to .net(if there is no option), load, compile and run the app with no change.
Get real. If I have to rewrite this, why not just move altogether from Microsoft and not let them shaft me again in the future ?
Dougie - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
It's a good news that VB 6 support does not end 31/Mar, 2005. However, given the amount of coding that has gone into VB6 worldwide and the learning curve to rewrite all again, 3 years may be far too less.
I would opt for a non-MS development tool if this is going to be the case every couple of years of threaten... - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
I've asked Microsoft (Israel) to help
me with porting my smallest utility from vb6
to vb.net ...and I'm still waiting. I've tried
the wizzard and got 100 runtime errors about uninitialized classes (what classes????????).
Sorry, but this is not VB. We wont VB 7 !!!
.net is not for us !!! - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
To answer the question of will VB 6.0 work with the next OS Release (Longhorn), for the record VB 6.0 will work with Longhorn.
Individual applications might not. I put that disclaimer in because I have no way of knowing if you did something unique in your application that won't work with Longhorn. I would put this disclaimer in if you asked me this question years ago about if VB 6.0 would work with XP.
As a general statement VB 6.0 will work just fine with Longhorn and the vast, vast majority of applciations will continue to work just fine. - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
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March 12, 2005
Click <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/brad_mccabe/archive/2005/03/12/394658.aspx">here</a> for a bit a clarification on two points that seem to have confused a few people. - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
I once again agree with the previous post. VB.Net is not Vb and Microsoft will be losing alot more than VB Sales. Talk SQL licenses etc.
Linux is free (as in beer) and once apps are moved they certainly will not be coming back to M$ space.
Dougie. - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
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March 12, 2005
A lot of VB6 programmers I know are looking for (COM) alternatives to VB.NET. They produce shareware applications and they just don't want to migrate to VB.NET for the reason I gave in my previous post. (reverse-engineering in VB.NET is a piece of cake)
Trying to convince millions of people to abandon the COM technology may eventually be the mistake which could make MS lose their monopoly on operating systems.
Believe it or not, I would be very disappointed if this happened. I have invested so much time and effort in studying VB6 and Win32 API that the idea of putting all my knowledge in the bin and starting to learn a new language from scratch really upsets me.
I think a petition all VB6 programmers should move is to ask MS to proceed on two parallel paths. They can certainly go on with .NET but, at the same time, they should avoid abandoning the COM technology simply because it will certainly backfire. Win32 has been around for such a long time that now it does not make any sense to tell us, "Let's start a new era and get rid of the millions of tons of existing code."
Dear Microsoft, have you have explored the possibility of making a fortune by releasing VB7 for WINAPI32 as a real continuation of VB6?
Why are you trying to destroy a wonderful technology that you yourselves created some years ago and that many people consider to be the best in the world? - Anonymous
March 12, 2005
I have just signed the petion moved by Dougie Lindsay and I firmly believe all VB6 programmers should do the same.
Please visit
http://classicvb.org/petition/
where you will find
A PETITION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNMANAGED VISUAL BASIC AND VISUAL BASIC FOR APPLICATIONS
Thanks, Dougie. I really hope your petion will have a positive outcome. - Anonymous
March 13, 2005
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March 13, 2005
A few related blogs for various folks on the petition thing.
<a href="http://www.panopticoncentral.net/archive/2005/03/10/7951.aspx">Paul Vick</a> - Talks about VB 6 in the VB IDE from a guy that worked on both.
<a href="http://www.lhotka.net/WeBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=8a559eb1-8408-4e47-8e00-0d3a3621f37e">Rocky Lhotka</a>
<a href="http://swigartconsulting.blogs.com/tech_blender/2005/03/just_plain_wron.html">Scott Swigart</a>
<a href="http://www.danappleman.com/">Dan Appleman</a>
<a href="http://blogs.duncanmackenzie.net/duncanma/archive/2005/03/10/1219.aspx">Duncan Mackenzie</a>
<a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/cfranklin/archive/2005/03/10/393239.aspx">Carl Franklin</a>
<a href="http://betav.com/BLOG/billva/archive/2005/03/11/198.aspx">William (Bill) Vaughn</a> - Anonymous
March 13, 2005
Why don't you guys give the VBers a VB 6.1 compiler with a /clr option that'll compile unmanaged VB6 code to IL (same as in C++) ?
Nish
[somehow my comment vanished] - Anonymous
March 13, 2005
And perhaps you could give them extensions (VB 6.1/CLI) to smoothly add managed features to their existing apps.
Nish
[this one vanished too] - Anonymous
March 13, 2005
I read some of the blogs suggested by McCabe relating to the petition and I could not understand the reason why some people are convinced that VB.NET is a better choice than VB6.
Do you really believe that compiling to byte-code is safer than compiling to machine language? Standard Windows executables are self-sufficient and very hard to decompile. Moreover, you don't have to worry about the next version of the .Net Framework and hope that it will guarantee perfect compatibility with the version you are now using.
A lot of people have not yet installed the Windows XP service pack so they don't have the Framework on their machines. If you distribute your applications through the Internet, you may lose a lot of customers because of that.
What concerns me is the fact that, presumably, every three years MS will release a new version of the Framework and backward compatibility is not to be taken for granted.
VB6 programmers are not stupid. Programming for Win32 will give them fewer problems than following MS in this new experimental environment.
MICROSOFT, PLEASE SELL THE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS FOR VB6 TO ANOTHER SOFTWARE HOUSE AND ALLOW THEM TO COME UP WITH NEW (VB.COM) VERSIONS.
Believe me if I tell you that a lot of people are convinced you are digging your own grave by abandoning VB6 and the COM technology.
You have come to a fork in the road and I'm afraid that, if you decide to abandon Win32, many people will ask themselves the following question, "Well, a new era for operating systems has started. Win32 has died. So, what does the market offer? The .NET Framework and LINUX seem to be the only two valid choices..."
Please consider that nowadays the operating system is not an issue at all: when you buy a computer, Windows 32 is an inescapable choice. - Anonymous
March 14, 2005
.NET enthusiasts routinely claim that VB coders are so stupid they can't learn a new language. They also suggest that VB6 applications can be left in VB6 for ever.
The first point is plain silly—any programmer worth his salt can learn a new language at need.
The second point is more subtle, but equally wrong. If VB6 is never updated, newer platforms will acquire progressively more features which are inaccessible to applications written in VB6. Eventually, VB6 will not be able to run on modern platforms. So the evil day of rewriting may be postponed for a while, but it cannot be put off for ever.
When a new platfom appears and a new compiler is developed for it, it is expected that some code in an existing language might have to be rewritten in order to use the new platform features, for instance file input-output, user interface, or communication with other programs. But much code just does calculations of one kind or another (sorting, adding etc) and that part of it should not need any modification at all to compile and run on the new platform. But to go from VB6 to VB.NET, much of this code has to be rewritten as well. That costs a lot of money. Many programmers won't mind getting paid to do the same job over again, but their employers won't be so happy at the cost of it, which will of course have to be passed on to customers. - Anonymous
March 14, 2005
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March 14, 2005
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March 15, 2005
The critics of the critics of the VB6 to VB.net conversion are missing the point, entirely.
1) Writing software is a business - about making money.
2) M$ provided NO upgrade path other than that provided by the sweat of one's brow. This costs money. It doesn't make money.
By providing no useful upgrade path, M$, in one move, is costing a lot of companies a lot of money to no purpose, other than increasing it's own profits; profits provided by its own developer base.
Other solutions (already mentioned above and implemented for C++) could, and should, have been provided. The cost to M$ would have been minimal. The benefits to current users, immense, and everyone gets to learn .net in their timeframe, not M$s. - Anonymous
March 15, 2005
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March 15, 2005
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March 16, 2005
<i>I have coded in vb since 3, none of them did a perfect upgrade. ever. </i>
And not a one of them was anywhere - ANYWHERE - near as challenging as this one. All - ALL - previous versions provided a reasonable upgrade path. The Upgrade Wizard in all the released versions isn't anything close to an upgrade path, just a semi-useful add-on commissioned from Artinsoft, that slightly smooths a manual migration.
The VB6 developer is a customer, often an MSDN subscribing one who is still paying large amounts of money yearly. As customers, we cannot help our supplier (Microsoft) do better if we do not provide feedback on what areas we consider important, Edward.
We will do so, and you will not be able to shout us down, no matter how much you wish it. - Anonymous
March 16, 2005
Yes Visual Fred,
But your post IS feedback.
I maybe got a bit carried away on my last post but there is a difference between "I am a professional customer and here is my feedback/problems" and 90% of the posts I have seen on this issue. And they are rampant.
I don't deny that the upgrade wizard is a bit shoddy and could have been done a bit better but I see a possibility of M$ maybe improving this or coming up with a bit of a "help you upgrade" system or similar.
Keeping Vb6 and starting rogue versions of it aetc I see as a wee bit silly.
I think VB6 has (and rightly so) outlived it's usefulness. It was never the most powerful language and there was always a lot of things that could not be done (which had their own flame wars with demands by paying customers asking for other features.)
Maybe it is time to start a "how do we move forward" blog not a "lets go back".
There are a lot of things that generate headaches moving 6 to .NET but over the last while I have found a lot of usefull items. With a gradual upgrade (everyone has 3 years) I believe this is not an insurmountable problem. I have seen upgrades that still use DCOM with Interop running various VB6 bits of code. Maybe M$ just needs to generate another Interop wrapper for existing vb6 code? Maybe the comunity of people like myself who have had success need to be a bit more helpful to those in strife. Reading so many of the blogs and flame wars out there though I am usually very reticent to post replies (this VB6 issue is the first in years) as I find a lot of people don't want help, they want to complain.
Getting VB6 to load and run in .NET is not going to happen easily. There are just too many changes (most of which developers like me wanted). but keeping vb6 and COM/DCOM for ever is not going to help anyone (especially not our customers).
Personally I don't believe M$ made the mistake with VB.NET I think the mistake was COM. but hey that's a discussion for a different Blogwar.
No there is not a pure upgrade path, but it is also not as bad as some may think (and is not required in a single hit). If anyone needs help and advise I am more than happy to contribute my 5 cents worth (for all the help I would be <grinn>) but I fear the "lets keep VB6" Blogwars have (hopefuly) seen the last of my thoughts. - Anonymous
March 16, 2005
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March 16, 2005
I started learning VB at the age of 23. i love it, on every time i code,i discover some thing. i continue learing it til now i am learning. now in the age of 33(teen years of my life). i discovered that i still have to learn, but on the way of perfectioning, not discovering. i do it for fun, and i am very upset for what microsoft desided about our experiance. what if i code for money (survive)?. so microsoft (bill gate). you asked 'where do you want to go today?', my answer is 'try to realize my old dreams'.
.........about my english. i very sory :). - Anonymous
March 17, 2005
<i>So you wouldn't have to rewrite 200'000 lines of code. Also, just because they've made an announcement of a change (for the future), how is that an bugle cry to begin a mission of rewriting legacy code? </i>
But you are missing a bit of the point, 70bang. You're forgetting that presumably all these DLLs and classes are also written in VB, right?
So what advantage is gained to you? Your libraries still have to be upgraded if you want them to live inside the support window. - Anonymous
March 21, 2005
HOW DO I GET HELP IN VB6.0 . I DON'T HAVE MSDN INSTALLED AND IT ALWAYS ASK FOR IT . HOW DO I GET MSDN . - Anonymous
March 22, 2005
msdn of vb 6.0 - Anonymous
March 22, 2005
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March 24, 2005
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March 27, 2005
In reply to Mr. Duncan, you obviously have no legacy code to maintain.
I downloaded the VB 2005 Express Beta, bought a MS Learning edition which includes Vb Net 2003 standard. Please believe that upgrading previous vb6 apps is nothing but a no no.
MsComm control, forget it.
Major source using ADO (MS previously declared staregy), forget it. ADO.NET is all about being disconnected. What about corporate developers writing in house apps ? Forget it.
MS obviously believe that every company in the world don't have a fresh air firewall between their security bug ridden software connecting to the internet and companies that like to keep their network their own.
Where now ? Delphi mosy likely.
Dougie. - Anonymous
March 28, 2005
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March 30, 2005
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