This is a request for info and opinions (I'm sure there are many of the latter). Hearing that vb6 'support' (which I imagine means no vb6 runtime included with the o/s) will be available after Windows 9 or even 8 possibly, I am looking to future proof a large accounting suite of Vb6 programs that is in daily use and has been added to progressively over a number of years. It has never produced a cent of error or taken any more time than immeasurable to do any task a small business requires.
So my first though was to 'upgrade' to dot.net. What a colossal waste of time and dreadful experience. I found the dot.net community to have number of vociferous adherents who are superior (in their own eyes) unhelpful and rude. The system produces very slow action. Trial stuff that I have written runs at about 1/100 of the speed that it does under vb6. An example is printing in orderly decimal aligned columns (essential in accounting) which is ludicrously obtuse and requires far more coding than in vb6. I am also told by a usually very reliable source that dot.net too will have the ground torn out from under it in the near future. In all, a waste if time for me.
Next I looked at FoxPro. Looked good, but guess what? M$oft bought it, apparently to silence it.
Now, I look at Linux, to see if I can get away from M$oft and whether there are vb6 like programs that run on it. Apparently not. They appear to be all dot.net type imitations, and the Linux community seem divided, with their forums plagued by foul language and insults.
So, I'd be interested to hear people's opinions of the way to go. At the moment, it appears that the best way for me is to build a dedicated box just to run my accounts on Vb6, probably Windows 7 but I might try Window 8.1 (hate metro). This dedicated machine will not even access the internet, hence it cannot be nobbled by anyone, commercial or not. It will just do the one job .
A trifle extreme? Any other ideas?
So my first though was to 'upgrade' to dot.net. What a colossal waste of time and dreadful experience. I found the dot.net community to have number of vociferous adherents who are superior (in their own eyes) unhelpful and rude. The system produces very slow action. Trial stuff that I have written runs at about 1/100 of the speed that it does under vb6. An example is printing in orderly decimal aligned columns (essential in accounting) which is ludicrously obtuse and requires far more coding than in vb6. I am also told by a usually very reliable source that dot.net too will have the ground torn out from under it in the near future. In all, a waste if time for me.
Next I looked at FoxPro. Looked good, but guess what? M$oft bought it, apparently to silence it.
Now, I look at Linux, to see if I can get away from M$oft and whether there are vb6 like programs that run on it. Apparently not. They appear to be all dot.net type imitations, and the Linux community seem divided, with their forums plagued by foul language and insults.
So, I'd be interested to hear people's opinions of the way to go. At the moment, it appears that the best way for me is to build a dedicated box just to run my accounts on Vb6, probably Windows 7 but I might try Window 8.1 (hate metro). This dedicated machine will not even access the internet, hence it cannot be nobbled by anyone, commercial or not. It will just do the one job .
A trifle extreme? Any other ideas?