Microsoft Office 2007 Standard On Visual Basic 6.0

As you're probably properly informed, combined with the release of Windows seven RC arrived some huge information that influence Visual Simple six.0 applications: Skilled and Final Editions of Windows seven will feature a Windows XP Mode for backwards compatibility with legacy programs. This means that regardless of whether you are making use of parts which have troubles with Windows 7, you'll be able to run your VB6.0 application on the new running method,Office Standard 2007, albeit inside a Windows XP virtual machine.

It is important to mention that the VB staff over at Microsoft was by now creating positive the IDE and VB6 runtime would operate on Windows seven, as I commented just before (second comment on that submit) depending on the Assist Statement for Visual Fundamental six.0 on Windows Vista,Microsoft Office 2007 Pro, Windows Server 2008 and Windows seven:

The Visual Simple staff is committed to “It Just Works” compatibility for Visual Fundamental six.0 programs on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows seven.
The Visual Basic team’s aim is that Visual Simple 6.0 purposes that operate on Windows XP may also run on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows seven. The Visual Standard team is additionally committed to the Visual Simple 6.0 improvement atmosphere working on Windows Vista,Windows 7 X86, Windows Server 2008 and Windows seven.

The objective of XP Mode is clearly to move forward the Windows architecture towards the latest technologies, free of all the legacy bits required to maintain compatibility of old programs (read the History posts at the The Old New Thing blog for examples), while at the same time it allows developers to smoothly upgrade their apps without the threat of the application not working in the new OS. It can be basically a compromise of old vs. new. And it can be very easy to draw parallels between XP Mode and the approach taken by Apple, first with Classic and then with Rosetta,Microsoft Office 2007 Standard, to smooth the transition to new platforms. But as was the case in those scenarios, Classic was eventually phased out, and Rosetta will eventually be as well.

I personally think that this technology may end up being around for a while,Office Pro Plus 2007, and may even end up included in the next versions of Windows if there is enough customer demand for it. This has to be the same technology used in their Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) solution, targeted towards enterprise customers:

“Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) provides deployment and management of virtual Windows desktops to enable key enterprise scenarios. MED-V 1.0 helps enterprises upgrade for the latest version of Windows even when some applications are not yet compatible.”

Even in the scenario that XP Mode is supported for a long time, you still have to consider it as something that can be used for a smooth transition while you upgrade your purposes to your .NET Framework, and not as an excuse for not upgrading. It can help you plan a gradual migration, were you first start migrating certain modules while leaving others in VB6, with tools like the Interop Forms Toolkit. And keep in mind that even though the application will operate, the IDE is simply not supported anymore and neither are most controls that cause compatibility concerns. And at the same time you may be missing the benefits of making use of the latest technologies and the increased productivity of the .NET Framework.