Upgrade Your Visual Basic 6 Application
Critical RiskMicrosoft ended all support in 2024. The IDE doesn't run on modern Windows. The developers who know it are retiring.
Why Upgrade Now
Microsoft Has Walked Away
Microsoft ended mainstream support for VB6 in 2008 and extended support in 2024. The VB6 runtime still ships with Windows for backward compatibility, but the development tools don't run on modern Windows. You can run your app, but you can't change it.
You Can't Modify Your Own Software
The VB6 IDE doesn't install or run on modern Windows. To make changes, developers need to maintain old Windows installations specifically for development — a fragile and unsustainable setup.
Security Vulnerabilities With No Fixes
COM and ActiveX components that VB6 applications depend on are a well-known attack surface. With no support or patches, every known vulnerability stays open permanently.
No Path to Web or Mobile
VB6 applications are desktop-only. There is no supported path to make them accessible via web browser or mobile device. Your team is chained to their desks.
The Workforce Is Retiring
VB6 developers learned their craft 20-25 years ago. Many have long since moved on to modern languages, and those who remained are now retiring. No new developers are interested in picking up a dead-end technology — the pipeline is completely empty.
Integration Dead End
Modern APIs use REST/JSON. VB6 was built for COM/DCOM. Connecting a VB6 application to modern cloud services, payment gateways, or third-party platforms requires increasingly complex workarounds.
The Visual Basic 6 Reality
VB6 was the workhorse of business application development in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was accessible, productive, and produced solid desktop applications. Millions of business applications were built in VB6, and a surprising number are still in daily use.
But Microsoft has made its position clear: VB6 is over.
The Support Cliff
Microsoft ended mainstream support for VB6 in 2008. Extended support ended in 2024. The VB6 runtime still ships with Windows — Microsoft knows too many applications depend on it — but the development environment itself won’t even install on modern Windows.
This creates an impossible situation: your application runs, but you cannot modify it using its own tools on a current operating system. Any changes require maintaining legacy development environments, which is increasingly fragile and expensive.
The Security Time Bomb
VB6 applications are built on COM and ActiveX — technologies with well-documented security vulnerabilities. With no patches coming from Microsoft, every known vulnerability remains permanently open. For businesses handling customer data, financial information, or regulated records, this is an unacceptable risk.
We’ve Been Where You Are
Ocom’s founder, Scott Warren, built applications in Visual Basic 6 extensively during the platform’s heyday. He understands VB6’s event-driven model, its COM dependencies, and the patterns your application almost certainly uses. When we assess your VB6 system, we’re not guessing — we’re drawing on direct experience with the same tools and techniques your application was built with.
A Shrinking Workforce
The developers who built VB6 applications did so 20-25 years ago. Many are now approaching retirement. New developers aren’t learning VB6 — it’s not taught in any university or bootcamp. The talent pool doesn’t just get smaller each year; it gets dramatically smaller.
When your current VB6 developer retires or moves on, finding a replacement won’t just be expensive — it may be impossible.
How We Handle Your Visual Basic 6 Upgrade
Your App Is the Prototype
We study your current Visual Basic 6 application to understand exactly what it does, how your team uses it, and what works well. No requirements are lost.
Your Data Comes With You
We migrate your existing data into the new system. No starting from scratch. Your history, your records, your reports — all preserved.
Modern Platform, Familiar Workflow
The new system feels familiar to your team but runs on supported, secure, modern technology with a future.
Ready to Modernise Your VB6 Application?
Let's discuss upgrading your Visual Basic application to a modern platform.
Risk Assessment
Key Risks
- All Microsoft support ended in 2024
- VB6 IDE cannot run on modern Windows
- COM/ActiveX dependencies create security risks
- Cannot build for web or mobile
- Developers retiring out of workforce
Ready to Modernise Your VB6 Application?
Let's discuss upgrading your Visual Basic application to a modern platform.