Microsoft expands efforts to transistion from VB6 to .NET

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+walks+VB+tight+rope/2100-1007_3-5620821.html?tag=nefd.top

Facing protests from legions of Visual Basic developers, Microsoft is not backing down. But it is taking steps to keep them on friendly terms.

Microsoft remains "firm" in its plans to end free support for Visual Basic 6 at the end of the month, S. "Soma" Somasegar, the corporate vice president of Microsoft's tools division, told CNET News.com.

S. "Soma" Somasegar,
corporate vice president
of Microsoft's tools division

That decision to end free support for Visual Basic 6, which was introduced in 1998, has caused an outcry among some of Microsoft's developer customers, even those with close affiliations with the software giant.

Somasegar said that Microsoft's intention is to ease the migration of customers to Visual Basic.Net, the current version of the product, which is is designed to quickly build Windows desktop applications that tap into databases.

To do that, the company will introduce enhancements in the forthcoming edition of its Visual Basic 2005 meant to "bring back" some ease-of-use features that appeal to Visual Basic developers, he said. For example, a popular feature called "edit and continue" will make its way into Visual Basic 2005, which is due around the middle of the year.

Also, by the end of the month, Microsoft plans to open the VB6 Upgrade Center, an area on its Microsoft Developer Network Web site, which will have technical information to help customers learn Visual Basic.Net.

"It's sort of like, 'Should I give you fish for dinner or teach you how to fish?'' Somasegar said. "We had this revelation 18 or 24 months ago, that maybe we should be expending our energies and efforts to make it easy to migrate (customers') skills to take advantage of the new world."