Future of VB6

[vanvb]

A while ago we had a discussion regarding the future of VB6 especially with Microsoft pushing .NET so much. I came across an article talking about this. Here is a quote from the article:
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Microsoft plans three phases for VB6: Mainstream, Extended, and Non-Supported (see "Product Family Life-Cycle Guidelines for Visual Basic 6.0&quot. The Mainstream phase is in effect today: Microsoft plans no new releases or new features, but you get full technical support, including free phone support and online incident reports. Microsoft will release hot fixes as needed during this phase on topics such as security. The Mainstream phase will end March 31, 2005. The Extended phase is designed to support the existing VB6 user base and code but reduce incentives for you to stick with the old technology. The main difference between the Mainstream and the Extended phases is that free phone support and incident reports no longer will be available. The Extended phase will end in March 2008. Then, VB6 will move to the Non-Supported phase, when Microsoft will cease all support for the product.
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Here is a link to the article:

http://www.fawcette.com/vsm/2003_11/magazine/columns/qa/page2.aspx

 

[strongm]

Not exactly a plan. Just the pretty standard MS product lifecycle info, details of which are available on the MS site for all their products

 

[vanvb]

"Microsoft has entirely different plans regarding unmanaged C++ support. Microsoft will support its C++ line of products, such as ATL and MFC, fully for the foreseeable future. It also will advance and extend these products as major improvements to version 7 of both MFC and ATL indicate. Future features probably will target improvement of integration with .NET and making the development experience in unmanaged C++ as close as possible to that of .NET"

 

[vb5prgrmr]

http://www.angrycoder.com/article.aspx?cid=1&y=2003&m=7&d=17

 

[chiph]

I think vanvb's post of the Microsoft sunset policy for VB6 pretty much says it all.

Time to learn .NET!

Chip H.


If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

 

[AndyWatt]

Do I have to? It looks scary!

Andy
"Logic is invincible because in order to combat logic it is necessary to use logic." -- Pierre Boutroux
"A computer program does what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do." -- Greer's Third Law

 

[chiph]

Well, you've got about 18 months until it enters the "Extended" support phase. Based on my past experience, once that transition ocurrs, the quality of support degrades rapidly, as the talented support people get shifted onto the new products, and the ones left behind are only so-so.

Chip H.


If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first