Running Visual C++ and/or Visual Basic under Vista Home Premium OS

Hi:
I have a new HP laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit OS.
Microsoft has programming languages / compilers / IDEs for Visual C++ 5 and
6, and Visual Basic 5 and 6. These IDE's (Integrated Development
Environments) are usually included on a CDs in the back of most popular books
on the topic.
Deitel's latest VB book does not contain any disk, but they say that the
software
can be downloaded from Microsoft's web site.

1) Can you direct me to links for these IDE's ?
2) Will the IDE's / languages work under Vista Home Premium Edition ?
3) Are there any problems running Java under Vista Home Premium Edition ?

Thank you
DaleB

 

Hello DaleB,

It sounds like the development environments mentioned in the book may be
Microsoft's Visual Studio Express Editions, which are free of charge.

To download the Visual Studio Express Editions, visit the MSDN Visual Studio
Express Download Center at
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/express/aa975050.aspx.

You will see several Visual Studio Express editions listed on the page:

- Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition
- Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
- Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
- Microsoft Visual J# 2005 Express Edition

Click on the drop-down below "Visual Basic" and select the language you wish
to use and then click on Download. Save the installation program to your hard
drive, and do the same for Visual C++.

To run the installation programs, click on Start, then click on your user
name in the Start menu, and then double click on the "Downloads" folder.
Double click on the first installation program, and if user account control
prompts you for consent, provide the appropriate credentials or provide
consent to run the installation. Repeat this for each edition of Visual
Studio Express that you have chosen to download.

Once you have installed the Express Editions, download and install Service
Pack 1 for the Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions that you have installed.
For quick reference, here are the links for Visual Basic and Visual C++ SP1
Updates:

Visual Basic 2005 Express SP1:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...75-85cc6ae34bf1/vs80sp1-kb926747-x86-intl.exe

Visual C++ Express SP1:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...75-85cc6ae34bf1/vs80sp1-kb926748-x86-intl.exe

You will also want to install the SP1 Update for Windows Vista to ensure
maximum compatibility and a seamless development experience. I have included
the link for that update here as well (please note that these links are all
available on the Visual Studio Express download center on the MSDN web site):

Visual Studio 2005 SP1 Update for Windows Vista:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=90e2942d-3ad1-4873-a2ee-4acc0aace5b6

In regards to your question about the Java Runtime Environment, I have not
encountered any issues with Java 6.0 on Windows Vista 32-bit or 64-bit. You
can download the Java Runtime Environment from
http://java.com/java/download/index.jsp.

I hope that this helps, have a great day

--
Regards,
Kristan M. Kenney
Microsoft MVP [Windows - Shell/User]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

Hi Kristen:
Thank you for your detailed reply.
And now, I have a related question.

Several years ago, I purchased Visual C++ 5.0 and Viusal Basic 5.0.
IThey wer running under Windows 95 at the time.
Do you know if there is a current "full-blown" edition of VC++ or VBasic that
runs under WIndopws Vista Home Premium Edition or if these older versions
will. I do not know hopw complete the "express" version are relative to the
version you buy (or bought at that time). Any ideas ?

 

You can get Visual C++ and Visual Basic .Net Express versions free off
of the Microsoft site. They work fine with Vista.

 

VB 5 is (thankfully) dead, and has been replaced by VB.NET. VC++ still
exists.

The current version of Visual Studio is 2005, but 2008 should be
released "by the end of November" (which almost certainly means 30th).

The 'Express' version is pretty good. The only real limitation is that
it doesn't support plugins. This tends to be more of a problem for
professional developers (I don't know how I'd live without
TestDriven.NET or Visual SVN - and I know many others couldn't live
without Resharper). For individual developers who are not coding full
time, the Express version is very good.

Alun Harford

 

If you want to do serious programming I think you need to go for Visual
Studio - why not ask in the VS2005 newsgroup?

 

Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 are far, far ahead of VC++ 5.0, in
both ease of use and features. After a short while using VS2005, you would
never want to go back to VC 5.0 (IMHO). Some product upgrades are a waste of
money; this one certainly is worth every cent, and then some.

Download the Express versions and try them out. If you like them (you will)
then upgrade to the full versions, if necessary (but Express editions are
quite comprehensive, unless you are doing hard-core commercial development).

"Classic" Visual Basic a la VB 5.0 is a dead language. There are no more new
programming tools for the old VB coming from Microsoft. Moving to VB.NET is
something of a learning curve; but you will get access to the full power of
the .NET Runtime. VB.NET is a much more powerful and flexible language than
classic VB (and it's not really that much harder, it just looks a bit odd at
first).

Good luck,

 

What I would recommend doing in this case is to give the Express editions a
try and see if they suit your needs. I've been doing some occasional
programming in my spare time and have used Visual Studio 2005 Professional
Edition, Visual Studio 2005 Standard Edition, and the Express editions and to
be quite honest the express editions have been absolutely great.

You can obtain trial versions of the full Visual Studio 2005 suites from
MSDN, a link is included at the end of the post for your convenience. Also,
Visual Studio 2008 (along with the corresponding Express editions) are just
around the corner, so you may want to keep an eye out for those -- a beta is
available now if you wish to evaluate further before the final version is
made available.

Visual C++ 5.0 and Visual Basic 5.0 do not work under Windows Vista to the
best of my knowledge. However, if for whatever reason you do wish to develop
using these older languages, you can download Virtual PC from the Microsoft
Download Center (link included at the end of post for your convenience) and
load Windows XP or another Windows operating system within a virtual
environment (note that you must have a seperate license to use another
operating system in Virtual PC -- for example if you do not have a copy of
Windows XP you would need to purchase a copy or obtain it through another
distribution method such as an MSDN subscription). Once you have set up the
virtual machine you could then install Visual C++ or Visual Basic 5.0 within
the environment.

Visual Studio 2005 edition comparison:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700921.aspx

Visual Studio 2005 hosted experience and 180-day trial software:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/bb188238.aspx

Virtual PC 2007 download link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...02-3199-48a3-afa2-2dc0b40a73b6&DisplayLang=en

--
Regards,
Kristan M. Kenney
Microsoft MVP [Windows - Shell/User]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

I haven't tried running VB5 on Vista, but based
on the discussions in the VB newsgroups, they
will both run fine. You just have to make sure
to run as admin. If you have any trouble you
can check in at...
microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
.... where VB is not yet a "dead language".


Getting VB5 is another matter. You can't buy VB 5/6
anymore unless you buy it used, find an obscure
dealer with left-over stock, or find a copy of the
limited versions that did used to come in books
on CD many years ago.

VB6 was the last VB. It compiles and requires no
support files that are not on Vista, but there's no longer
any official support for it. The VB5 runtime, by
contrast, must be installed on Vista.

Everything after VB6 is VB.Net, which is an entirely
different thing. VB basically creates compiled "desktop
software". VB.Net creates JIT-compiled "assemblies"
that use an object-oriented runtime of some 70-100 MB,
depending on the version. It's essentially Microsoft's
answer to Java - not particularly well-suited to desktop
software but used quite a bit for server-side components
on Windows servers.

MS is trying to nudge people away from doing any
Windows programming outside of a sandbox. So .Net is
all the rage now and even C++ programmers, last I
heard, were being encouraged to change over to a .Net
version called C++/CLI.

So, in a nutshell, yes, you can use VB if you can
find it.

 

A second note: This topic has actually
been getting discussed recently on VB groups.
One upshot is this link, which may be helpful
if you find a copy of VB5/6 -

http://www.ftponline.com/channels/net/2007_09/kpeterson2/

 

All:

Thank you for your detalied replies !

DaleB