Web Site Aims at VB 6 Holdouts

A new Web site for developers still using Visual Basic (VB) 6 is the latest salvo in Microsoft’s five-year effort to convince its legions of VB customers to move to the .NET Framework development platform. The new site follows an online petition started by several Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) that asked the company to extend Mainstream support for VB 6 and produce “VB.COM”-a COM-based version of VB 6 that runs within the current Visual Studio IDE. While happy to provide more documentation on VB.NET, Microsoft is neither making changes to its support policy nor bringing back VB 6.

End of Mainstream Support Triggers Reaction

The immediate cause of the petition was the March 31, 2005, movement of VB 6 from the Mainstream to the Extended phase of Microsoft’s product support life cycle. The most significant difference between the two phases is that Microsoft will provide free nonsecurity hotfixes during the Mainstream phase but not the Extended phase. (Free security fixes are available in both phases.) Customers who want to receive custom hotfixes in the Extended phase need a support contract and must purchase an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement and pay for each fix. (See “Support Life Cycle Extended for NT, Exchange 5.5“.)