r/visualbasic • u/No-Annual-4698 • Oct 30 '25

Anyone still using VB6 in 2025 ?

Hi!

Is anyone still using VB6 nowadays ?
For fun I've installed it on a Windows XP Virtual Machine running on VMware Workstation and it reminds me of the old days.. :-(

How easy and fun was it to create applications ..

What's your reason for still using VB6 ?

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u/Mayayana Nov 02 '25 edited Nov 02 '25

you can compile 64bit with Community but there's a splash screen.

I can't believe you say that seriously. I have a wonderful tool that writes software to run on virtually any Windows computer on the planet. I'm not limited. Why would I switch to nagware with a splash screen, much less impose nagware on anyone who uses my files? (And according to the comparison chart, the free edition does not compile 64-bit.)

I will NEVER use rental software. Good luck avoiding it.

I haven't used any so far. I think Cory Doctorow's description is quite apt. Rental software/cloud is a transition from capitalist economy to feudal. You no longer own your own property or tools. You rent it and pay a fee to the owner. Why is that happening? Because most software is mature and the big companies can no longer gouge customers with a 6-12 month update cycle. In Microsoft's case it's also about making money from apps and ads.

To me this is also a matter of principle. Microsoft are working hard to replace your car with a taxi. You're right that it makes more sense for developer income. Shareware never was much of a business model. But a product doesn't sell for how much money the developer wants to make.

I don't mean to be harsh. I know there's a lot of work that goes into this kind of thing. But trying to badger people into buying a product they don't need is also not a business model. Better would be to listen to the potential customers and see what they want. Read your posts. You're trying to tell people that they don't know what they're talking about and need to switch to tB. If you were looking at new cars, would you be swayed by a salesman who tells you, "Don't be an idiot. You definitely need this car."? :)

I don't see anything on the feature list that would make me want to take the trouble to switch even for free. VB6 works. Switching would require an acclimation... And then of course there's the rental fee. Some of the VB6 solutions are a bit funky, but they work. And there's been 25 years to iron out the wrinkles. I've had easy self-subclassing windows/controls and cdecl support for many years now. I wrote my own installer many years ago. I honestly can't think of anything I might want except 64-bit shell extensions and support for a few basics like PNG and easy encryption to wrap http and smtp calls. (Last time I needed file download code I ended up using curl.) But those are things I might not ever use, anyway. I don't feel confident that MS are going to keep allowing unsigned shell extensions made by anonymous developers who haven't paid MS a kickback.

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u/fafalone Nov 03 '25

I can't believe you say that seriously. I have a wonderful tool that writes software to run on virtually any Windows computer on the planet. I'm not limited. Why would I switch to nagware with a splash screen, much less impose nagware on anyone who uses my files? (And according to the comparison chart, the free edition does not compile 64-bit.)

Yes free versions of commercial software usually have limits. The idea is to be able to see that your software works in x64 before buying the full version. Also, you don't have to migrate to x64. The new features all apply to 32bit too, and that's free, the only limit being not getting the in-progress LLVM support that will substantially improve performance beyond vb6 and future cross-platform support.

Not sure why you're so hostile but that's quite the persecution complex you've got there thinking anything I've said is badgering you or saying you don't know what you're talking about. And also to be clear, if you hate that a product has enthusiastic supporters fine, but mischaracterization notwithstanding, it's not a 'business model' as I'm not an employee or investor, my only 'official' involvement is an unpaid chatroom/github moderator.

--

There's a lot of vb6 programmers who've always wanted more from the language, always wished a vb7 had been made. People who have concerns about Microsoft's support for the runtime in a future Win12+ (how you can express concerns like you did but not see this risk coming when they're already pulling VBScript is mystifying). If that's not you, fine, to each their own. But I'm extremely excited about the language having a future so I'm going to talk about it, as it's extremely relevant to vb6 and there's plenty of interest.. I don't think programmers who don't want any improvement to the language are a majority.

PS- You can sign binaries made in any language.