Whidbey Seeks to Replace Retiring VB 6

When Visual Basic (VB) 6.0 moves from Mainstream to Extended support in Mar. 2005, it also marks the end of Mainstream support for a number of widely adopted technologies that have since been replaced by portions of the .NET Framework. Although this transition does not mean that existing applications will stop working, IT organizations need to understand which technologies are being phased out and know their successors. Furthermore, Visual Studio 2005 will contain features specifically designed to address difficulties VB developers have faced in moving to .NET, making this an opportune time for organizations to consider their VB development plans.

Technical Break from the Past

VB is the most popular programming product from Microsoft, and possibly the most widely used programming language from any vendor. VB gained its dominant position primarily as a tool for creating thick-client user interfaces that connected to a database. VB clients include both stand-alone applications and custom add-ons to Office applications created with the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) tools built into the Office suite.