When will VB6 application support end?

Question

Microsoft no longer supports VB6 development and support from Microsoft has already stopped. But VB6 applications still run on Windows 8.1. See also this article titled "Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1".

When would a VB6 application stop running on Windows? Is there any official statement from Microsoft or any clue about the same?

EDIT: In this link, the Visual Studio team has mentioned that, "It will be supported at least through 2024". But it's not clear whether they said it's supported in Windows 8 till 2024 or in future release of windows OS too.

Answer 1

Looks like Microsoft just extended VB6 runtime support out to Windows 11 and Server 2022. No such luck for the IDE though.

Read more from Microsoft here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/visualstudio/visual-basic-6/visual-basic-6-support-policy

Answer 2

There is a project to provide a new language "RADBasic" which is intended to be compatible with the VB6 programming language.

New language compatible with VB6 programming

Answer 3

In my personal experience if you build a dll in VB6 and add it as a component to COM Plus in Server 2016 it just won't add. You will get an error such as the following, even for a 'Hello World' component.

A registry value was changed while installing the following component into a COM+ Application. If you are experiencing activation problems with this component then please check the registry value for the following key.

Component: C:\temp\Project1.dll

Registry Key: CLSID\{D5DE8D20-5BB8-11D1-A1E3-00A0C90F2731}\InProcServer32

Process Name: RunDll32.exe Comsvcs.dll file version: not loaded

Answer 4

The "2024" means as part of Windows 8. The link says the VB6 runtime is part of Windows and therefore will be supported in the same way as the rest of Windows. For example Windows 8 will be supported until 2024 because that's the support lifecycle for Windows 8.

EDIT: Microsoft have now said the VB6 runtime is officially part of Windows 10 too.

EDIT: the VB6 IDE (not runtime) is no longer officially supported on any version of Windows, but there are ways to get it to work on Windows 7 and 8.

Answer 5

Microsoft have just stated for VB6 programming on Windows 10:-

"Windows is committed to compatibility. The Windows compatibility team has been looking at user telemetry and reacting to feedback from Windows Insiders to ensure that existing apps work well with Windows 10. Windows 10 is designed to run Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 software programs. And yes, everyone’s favorite VB6 Runtime will continue to work, too. In the near future, the compat team will go more in-depth on this topic on Blogging Windows."

Everyone's favorite VB6 programming on Windows 10

So VB6 programming will work on Windows 10, as does VBA programming.

They also state that 'Project Centennial' Universal Windows Platform Bridge will work with VB6 code.

Instructions for installing the VB6 IDE are available here...

Answer 6

The VB6 programming language installs and runs on Windows 7, 8.x and 10.

There is a utility to install it here: VB6 IDE install utility

Answer 7

Uservoice: The VB6 runtime it is still a component of the Windows operating system and is a component shipped in Windows 8.1. It will be supported at least through 2024

It seems clear they mean VB6 will be supported through 2024, not just VB6 on Windows 8 (whose mainstream support ends 6 years earlier anyway).

Answer 8

It is in Microsoft's interests for VB6 applications to run in Windows 10 and so they probably will. The same is probably true of most old application frameworks: Microsoft works hard to maintain compatibility. The IDE runs on Windows 7 (not sure about 8 or 10).

However, just because Microsoft says VB6 will run it doesn't mean your particular application will work, particularly if you use third party components. You should at least be thinking about migrating to another development environment.

Answer 9

From what I heard, VB6 applications still work on Windows 10 technical preview. I've seen no official statement yet, but it would seem that VB6 will stay supported for at least a few years.