Robert A LaBudde wrote:

> At 02:49 AM 8/21/2006, Mike wrote:
>> Visual Studio 6 with VB6 works fine under Windows XP. Keep on using it
>> for the next quarter of century. What's the point of your message?
> 
> 25 years ago there was no IBM PC ...

I think there was: http://www.cedmagic.com/history/ibm-pc-5150.html

> ... or Windows. You certainly are optimistic about the lifetime of
> software tools. No doubt you expect Windows XP to be around in 25 years
> as well. 

I'm sure you know that in many places there are still DOS applications in
use, running on DOS. So much for the lifetime of software...

Just because Microsoft stops supporting something officially doesn't mean
you have to stop using it. You may not be able to get much new software for
your WinXP computer in 25 years, and may not be able to run WinXP on any
recent hardware platform, but you may be able to run it on your current
computer (that you keep alive with scavenged parts from other oldies :). Or
on something similar, but more current (like those neat little PC boards
that run MS-DOS and applications for it just fine).

Same goes for VB6. Microsoft stopped supporting it. How often did you use
Microsoft support for VB6? Chances are never (at least most never did).
Microsoft still provides some support, though:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbrun/default.aspx

If you want to be really safe from vendor "crashes", you need to use open
source (not necessarily free) software -- and have the manpower to support
it yourself if the vendor doesn't. IMO it's not guaranteed that any vendor
will keep up with OS changes. Not even a support contract helps you if a
vendor throws the towel. It also isn't guaranteed that your chosen vendor
makes the move with you to a different OS. I can easily envision myself
working primarily on something other than Windows in ten years. 

I'm not saying there are not a few good arguments for PowerBASIC. But last
I checked (granted, that was a while ago :), my VB6 still compiles, even
after Microsoft stopped supporting it :)

Gerhard

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