Visual Basic 6 Will Run on Windows 8

Visual Basic 6 (VB 6) runtime components will ship in Windows 8 on x86- and x64-based computers and receive Microsoft product support for the life cycle of Windows 8, Microsoft has announced. VB 6 will not be available on Windows 8 on ARM. The support policy will help organizations that deploy Windows 8 but want to keep using VB 6 applications, which are still widely in use in businesses.

Because VB 6 applications run as desktop applications, and not in the new Metro application environment, they will not work in Windows 8 editions for ARM processor architectures. VB 6 applications will run on x64 processors through the Windows on Windows 64 (WoW64) 32-bit emulation environment, as on Windows 7.

The support policy does not apply to the Visual Basic integrated development environment, which Microsoft stopped supporting in Apr. 2008 except on custom support contracts. The policy also does not apply to the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) environment for writing Office-based applications (such as macros). VBA follows the support rules and schedule for the Office suite. Microsoft has not said whether VBA will work in Office 15 or on ARM processors.