Will Windows 7 support the VB6 runtime?

Question

I can't seem to find a straight answer on this. It appears that Visual Studio 6 won't be supported, but I'm only concerned with the runtime. We have some legacy apps that we'd rather not rewrite, but our customers will expect them to run on Windows 7.

If anyone can provide a link to something official from MS on the topic, that would be very helpful.

Answer 1

YES! Official support statement:

The core Visual Basic 6.0 runtime will be supported for the full lifetime of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 EDIT and now Windows 8,which is five years of mainstream support followed by five years of extended support

I don't know when it was changed, because it didn't say that a couple of weeks ago, but it does now. Hoorah!

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As VonC pointed out in his answer, the IDE is not supported any more, which is a worry if you want to maintain and update your VB6 code.

The Visual Basic 6.0 IDE will be supported on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 as part of the Visual Basic 6.0 Extended Support policy until April 8, 2008

People have been using the IDE on Vista with a few tweaks. And if necessary it will always be possible to run it in a virtual machine.

Answer 2

Breaking news (02/27/2009, first reported by MarkJ)

Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7

"The core Visual Basic 6.0 runtime will be supported for the full lifetime of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7"

Note: MarkJ has posted an answer below (before my update), which should be considered as the official answer for this thread. Go upvote it ;)

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(Initial answer)

Runtime should be supported for Windows 7, and not after, If I believe this Software Migration Expert blog entry (January 2009)...

I spoke to Paul Yuknewicz who is a Program Manager on the Microsoft Visual Basic team and who is quite involved with everything related to VB6 and its migration process.
Paul said and I quote: "VB6 runtime will be shipping and supported as a part of Windows 7, however there are no plans to ship it in future versions of Windows."

As stated in the same blog, the Support Statement for Visual Basic 6.0 on Windows®Vista™and Windows®Server 2008™, the Visual Basic 6.0 runtime support files will be supported until at least 2018 (Windows Server 2008 came out in 27 February 2008):

Supported Runtime Files – Shipping in the OS: Key Visual Basic 6.0 runtime files, used in the majority of application scenarios, are shipping in and supported for the lifetime of Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. This lifetime is five years of mainstream support and five years of extended support from the time that Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 ships. These files have been tested for compatibility as part of our testing of Visual Basic 6.0 applications running on Windows Vista.

I know this is about Vista, but if Windows Seven is more an evolution than a revolution, that may apply to Windows seven as well (nothing official though).

However:

The Visual Basic 6.0 IDE will be supported on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 as part of the Visual Basic 6.0 Extended Support policy until April 8, 2008

So, even though you will be able to continue using your Visual Basic 6.0 applications, sooner or later you will need to either fix an issue found in one of them, or add new functionality that is required by your business. And when that day comes, you will face the harsh reality that the VB6.0 IDE is no longer supported.

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MarkJ suggests in the comments:

"you will always be able to run the VB6 IDE in a virtual machine so it wouldn't be catastrophic that the IDE isn't supported"

Indeed, you could fire an Xp session with your favorite old IDE in it ;) (even if, in this picture, it is launched from... an ubuntu session!)

alt text http://www.blogcdn.com/www.downloadsquad.com/media/2008/02/virtualbox-ubuntu.jpg

Answer 3

It would be great to see an official statement. Some folks have reported on the VB6 newsgroup - and again - that the VB6 runtime is included, and VB6 programs (and even the IDE) run fine on the Windows 7 32-bit beta.

Answer 4

I seriously doubt that Windows 7 will break the VB6 runtime. There must be zillions of end user built little libraries that would also break.

Hardliners perhaps wouldn't have a problem with that but commercially I think MS would even after this many years.

Answer 5

The Preview Beta does support VB6 programs, but this could mean nothing in terms of the retail release.

The IDE was supported in Vista's initial release but as indicated above "support" has expired.

It comes down to what you mean by "support" in different contexts, but programs run on the Win7 Beta and people claim the IDE can run there as well (though I haven't tested that myself).

Answer 6

Our primary software product which is written in VB6 and uses various older libraries installed and ran on Windows 7 Beta without any problems.

I have yet to see an official statement from Microsoft regarding support for VB6 in Windows 7. Ceasing runtime support for the millions of VB6 applications and libraries would make little sense for them commercially, considering how popular VB6 still is.

Answer 7

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/ee413549

As stated above, legacy application written in VB6 will be supported in Windows 7 through out it's lifecycle. But it also states that every new development should be done in vb.net, which implies that the vb6 team only guarantee its runtime not its development. So it's important to know that development environment is already dead for vb6 and disasters like security holes and bugs can sneak into your vb6 code whenever you try to do new development with it. I bet that MS will support vb6 legacy application to run for another decade or so. Thus, no need to worry about running it but always keep in mind that this does not mean your allowed to keep developing using vb6.

Answer 8

VB6 is supported on Windows 8 and runs on Windows 10

Support statement for VB6 programming on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1

And VB6 programming runs on Windows 10 technical preview too. The runtime is included and the VB6 IDE installs OK.

Answer 9

Microsoft say

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.

Everones's favorite VB6 programming

They also say that Project Centennial will allow VB6 apps to be Universal Windows Apps.