Decision time vb.net or vb 2005?

DubOnHoliday

We've developed a number of small applications in recent times here using vb.net ( 2003) ... now we're about to rewrite some older major apps (vb6) to .net.... so I'm wondering should we choose now to goto VB 2005 or stick with the .net version we have at the moment? Any ideas?

amen

I would go VS 2005 skip VS 2003

nialo

Id look at your possible system setup in two years time. If the applications are running on windows boxes will you be still using XP or have moved to vista. If the plan is to move to vista then consider using the .net3.0 framework. But if you are designing web based apps then i would move to .net 2.0, simply for the greater functionality and controls.

DubOnHoliday

we're in the financial industry so changing o/s to Vista isn't going to happen for a number of years. I'm leaning towards vb 2005 because I've read the data handling and controls are far better than in 2003.... and also I've heard the migration tool actually works between the 2 versions, is that true?

sicruise

I've opened solutions from 2005 in 2003 and visa versa... so they do seem to be compatibile. Obviously I haven't tried every scenario in this...

BTW you can always include the .Net framework in your installer so you don't care what the user has installed. At the moment I have...

.Net Compact Framework 1.0 SP3 Developer
.Net Compact Framework 2.0
.Net Framework 1.1
.Net Framework 2.0

So I assume Vista having 3.0 shouldn't effect you after migration.

All this is from a Java developer that has only chucked together a few C# apps in .Net so don't take it as you would the gospel.

comer_97

if you are going from VB6 to VB.Net firstly I will say good luck. You can take the big bang approach or create and interim stage first using interop classes (search on google for that.).

VS2005 is better than 2003 but the VB migration tool is not the most stable product.

If I was making the decision go straight to VS2005

DubOnHoliday

No, moving from VB6 is not the point. The question is to continue developing in vb.net or bite the bullet now and purchase 2005. Do VB 2005 include and 3rd party controls such as those from componentone... truedbgrid etc?

Evil Phil

VB 2005 IS Vb.Net. It's Vb.Net 2.0 so most third party controls should still work with it, if they haven't already released versions for .Net 2.0. After all .Net 3.0 is available now so 2.0 is hardly the latest thing.

DubOnHoliday

actually, they've dropped the .net suffix for the 2005 version.

http://www.packtpub.com/article/Classic-ASP

anyways, not to be pedantic. My main concern was developing a major app in vb net 2003 and having to rewrite it if upgrading within say 5 years, doesnt make sense.
Also for a few years, we could use a lot of 3rd party controls free provided by microsoft (which have stopped now for that version) so I'm wondering if they're available again in later versions becuase if say, you've made a lot of use of componentone's truedbgrid, you cant move to later versions of dot net unless you purchases the software from componentone.

grahamor

stop using VB and change to C# !!!

(this is a joke, dont want to start a war)

NutJob

DubOnHoliday wrote:

My main concern was developing a major app in vb net 2003 and having to rewrite it if upgrading within say 5 years, doesnt make sense.

That would be my take on it. It will cost more to port again down the road.

sicruise

Are you sure that they have removed features in 2005? I have noticed little difference, only a few added features.

BTW... both support the .net framework... i'm pretty sure 2003 only had .net in its name to promote the introduction of it.

DubOnHoliday wrote:

actually, they've dropped the .net suffix for the 2005 version.

http://www.packtpub.com/article/Classic-ASP

anyways, not to be pedantic. My main concern was developing a major app in vb net 2003 and having to rewrite it if upgrading within say 5 years, doesnt make sense.
Also for a few years, we could use a lot of 3rd party controls free provided by microsoft (which have stopped now for that version) so I'm wondering if they're available again in later versions becuase if say, you've made a lot of use of componentone's truedbgrid, you cant move to later versions of dot net unless you purchases the software from componentone.

stevenmu

I've found the .Net1.1 to .Net2 migration tool to work perfectly. I haven't used it on any heavy projects, but to be honest I don't think it really does a whole lot anyway, mainly I think it just converts the project and solution files to the new format. Any code written in 1.1 still works in 2 (altough some APIs have been deprecated so they may then not be available in 3 ?). You can also write your code the exact same way as you would in 1.1, so there's no need for major upskilling. Then there are the new controls to use aswell if you like.

The only real factors against going to .Net2/VS2005 would be the actual cost and time of upgrading VS itself. And as mentioned 3rd party components, altough these should work in 2 even if they were designed for 1.1.