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The Myth of Visual Basic Migration / Upgrade

The myths about Visual Basic migration make it easy to play the “blame” game instead of trying to understand the issue. Often, in making the wrong assumptions, we “write off” some alternatives without even considering them. However, with training, support from automatic migration products and the use of a comprehensive migration methodology, the migration is not only possible using a fraction of the resources required for a rewrite, but it is also the right choice to reduce the Total Cost of Operation and prepare applications to maximize their future business value.

VB Runtime NOT in next Windows

Here is an excerpt from an article that Greg DeMichillie wrote on Directions on Microsoft April Edition:

"The planned follow-on release to Windows Vista, code-named Windows 7, will not include the Visual Basic 6.0 (VB 6) runtime libraries, Microsoft has begun informing customers. This sets a timeframe for the final end of support for the runtime."

As we have informed on several occasion in this Blog, Microsoft is performing all the normal steps to retire a technology from market.  Visual Basic 6 was/is a tremendously popular technology but never the less it will have to go away.

Jarvis Coffin once said: "All technologies fade away, but they don’t die."  This is most probably what is going to happen to VB6 (hey.. we still have COBOL code written more than 30 years ago that is alive and kicking!!!) but the question I have for you is: will you embrace the new technology?  Or will you fade away with it?

It is time to upgrade your skills as a developer and also to migrate your application to greener grounds. 

ArtinSoft has been hugely successful at migrating customers as Eric Nelson (Microsoft UK DPE and blogger) recently mentioned: "Artinsoft have a lot of VB6 migration experience and can help you do the migration - either by licensing their VB Upgrade Companion or by taking advantage of their migration services. Artinsoft are doing some great work with some of my UK ISVs helping them move off VB6."

If you have any questions or comments regarding your migration strategy let's cover them in this blog.

Published Apr 30 2008, 11:44 AM by Fzoufaly
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Comments

 

Bob said:

I doubt Greg DeMichillie speaks for Microsoft, and in any event Win7 is far from RTM at this date.

> It is time to upgrade your skills as a developer and also to migrate your application to greener grounds.

I find the notion of a move to VB.Net anything but "upgrading."   We're all tired of the sneers of hacks who imagine themselves superior because their thin skills saw no impact in making such a move.

Nobody expects and few would want VB6 forever.  What we do want is an updated follow-on that preserves our investment through evolutionary updating and that isn't subject to the vagaries of a thinly-veiled rehash of the JVM.

May 18, 2008 5:52 PM
 

Fzoufaly said:

Thank you Bob for your comment.

In general I agree with you that the transition to VB.NET requires effort.  However, the whole purpose of this blog is to show that a transition can happen, that it is not necessary to start from scratch and that there is actually a way to leverage your VB6 skills and more importantly your knowledge of the functionality of the applications that support your business.

At ArtinSoft all our business model is centered on the fact that Visual Basic 6 Automatic Migrations are the stepping stone towards .NET.  You can reuse all your knowledge about the inner working of the application, you can upgrade your code to .NET with a constrained effort that can be calculated before you start the process, you can even easily understand the resulting code and become productive at maintaining YOUR code almost immediately.

Of all the available options I truly believe that Automatic Migration should be considered very hard as an evolutionary way to move twards .NET.

May 21, 2008 11:23 AM
 

John said:

Many companies have spent 100’s of thousands of dollars writing large VB programs. These programs have use a lot of WinAPI and many advanced VB programs use inline machine language and have lots of pointers. These types of apps cannot be migrated and must be rewritten. Even if money is no object this still takes many, many years. DotNet only recently is to the point where you can develop on it. Currently most of these VB6 programs work with Vista without any problem. Why does Microsoft try so hard to punish companies for writing Windows software? There is no reason why VB6 programs can’t work on Windows 7 unless Microsoft tries to deliberately break them. If Microsoft thinks Vista went bad and then tries to break all VB6 programs Windows 7 will get even worse reviews and even more people will switch to Mac.

May 28, 2008 2:56 PM
 

Fzoufaly said:

I do not think Microsoft is "deliberately" trying to break applications.  The fact that they do not support a technology does not mean it will not work.  On the other hand they cannot just continue to support VB6 ad-infinitum.  I really think that .NET has proven its worth and that it is time to move on.  I understand that moving is not free (particularly for the kind of applications that you are describing) but I truly believe the advantages are much much more than the disadvantages.

May 28, 2008 5:02 PM
 

John said:

Wow, thanks for responding so quick! Just upset that I might not have time to convert apps to DotNet before the next version of windows. Hopefully VB6 runtime will still work on Windows 7 even if it's not supported (Windows Side by Side - works pretty well on Vista!) But in the meantime even as I still write in VB6 I'm converting as much code to C# as possible. Just hope it will be in time. BTW, the Wall Street Journal had video online today showing mult-touch screens for Windows 7. That will be nice as I've done tablet developement too. Cheers!

May 28, 2008 7:00 PM
 

Dave said:

I work in the UK supporting a c++ application that is COM automated within workflows - principly legal and accounting.

I can assure you that 'fresh' VB6 code is still being written in May 08 - I have twicesupported developers doing it this month. I would estimate a good third+ of developer contact is with VB6. When I ask them about the situation they reply, "there is no way we can rewrite our codebase - it would put us out of business"

... but the vb6 runtimes will run on Windows7 if installed, right?

May 31, 2008 9:17 AM
 

J Simmons said:

I fully agree with the anger expressed here about the failure of MS to forsee the impossible situation that many established businesses would be placed in by the abandonment of VB6.

Real businesses, real lives, real code, real money.

June 2, 2008 7:40 AM
 

Hans said:

Apparently VB6 development is still going strong in consumer/business market. Look at this, some company just released a very advanced VB6 app that they spent years developing. (http://www.omnicognic.com/)

August 14, 2008 7:53 PM
 

Jamie said:

I really hope Windows 7 loses the UAC and supports vb6 applications. There are millions of lines of vb6 code out there and Vista was such a dud. Windows 7 is supposed to be an upgrade to Vista not a new release of an OS. I still develop in vb 6 and support programs written in 2003 that are in vb6. VB net is a completely new language, it's not vb. You cannot easily change a vb6 program to .net. Good luck Microsoft but I think your new ad with Seinfeld is awful and so is Vista.

September 5, 2008 10:03 AM
 

Karl said:

Still using and supporting VB6. Many clients simply cannot support heavy dotnet stuff. And it added little new that we actually needed! I agree only 2.0 onwards is fit for purpose.

Microsoft should look at the developement of php, and how the pragmatic needs of its developers were incrementally met - pdf, zip, geolocation, etc etc all plugging into a SIMPLE core language. asp.net just clogs everything up. Who NEEDs 6 load events?

If Windows 7 snuffs VB6 (I don't imagine it will), it will mark yet another mistake by Microsoft. I think they have learnt though.

September 19, 2008 4:12 PM

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About Fzoufaly

Federico—ArtinSoft co-founder—holds a PhDC in Computer Science from the University of Florida, and a Master's degree in Computer Science and an honors Licentiate degree in Electronics Engineering from the Costa Rican Institute of Technology (ITCR). Federico has been a faculty member of both the ITCR Computer Science Department and the University of Florida. He is currently the Executive Vice President in charge of operations at ArtinSoft. Previously, he was vice president of ZIPTEK Inc., a technology-based company that offers consultancy services in automation networks. In 1993, the year he co-founded ArtinSoft, he won the National Electronics Award in the Research Category, awarded by the Costa Rican Federated College of Engineers and Architects. Federico has had an active participation in several local electronic and computer research projects. He is a founding member of the Costa Rican Association of Electronics Engineers and has served as a member of its Board of Directors since 1992, holding its Presidency on two occasions. He is also member of the Association for Computing Machines, the IEEE, as well as an active member of the College of Technological Engineers.

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Myth: "Visual Basic Migrations are not worth it." Current Status: BUSTED! Summary: Visual Basic Upgrade/Migrations are the most cost effective and less risky approach to evolve your code and take full advantage of .NET. The process to upgrade is not trivial, but THERE IS a process that can be followed and guarantees success.

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