VB 6.0 - The life of VB6

I have been asked to develop a couple of VB6 apps to run on computers on a network that still uses XP.  The apps need no networks access.  My client has no plans to upgrade XP in the near future.

My question is "what's the live expectancy of those VB6 apps".

This is of course a loaded question.  I am looking for some guidance on how long my client will be able to use the apps on VB6.  How long will VB6 run on newer versions of Windows (i.e. Vista, and Win 7).

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
kdsdata

As far as I know there is no thought on microsoft to cancel VB 6 support in any windows version and atleast they do support in vista and windows 2008, windows 7 from their http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbrun/ms788708.aspx

You could relax and develop the applications in vb6 but would recommend to upgrade to .net for more enhancements and better support though if wanted to start the apps from the beginning and however, if you are trying to make smaller changes to the existing ones, then you could still go ahead and keep them in vb 6.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbrun/ms788708.aspx

"....the core Visual Basic 6.0 runtime will be supported for the full lifetime of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7, which is five years of mainstream support followed by five years of extended support" - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vbrun/ms788708.aspx

Thanks for your überfast response.

It's good to hear these words from within and without Microsoft.

I understand that VB.net has more (or better) functionality and way better network capabilities.  However, in my kind of work I have not even pushed VB6 to its limits.  The limits would be more in the MS Access Jet Engine, or other SQL databases that I generally connect to.  Hence VB6 is still perfect for my work.

An upgrade for me to VB.net involves more than just the purchase of the new version.  I am a "stand-alone" programmer/designer/engineer.  Learning the major concepts of new version changes, such as between VB6 and VB.net, is, without trying to belittle the task, relatively easy.  However, to pick up the tricks is the time consuming "costly" chore.  The Internet is of course useful, but I find that personal contact and discussions are still necessary to hone the tricks.  That's the difficult part when one is a lone operator.  Plus, I have tons of VB6 reference material, which I would have to replace.

I have read a lot of the materials that tell about the advantages of vb.net.  However, most of the articles appear to be intended for fully trained programmers.  I just can’t classify my skills in that category.  As a loner I am self taught.  Hence, I learned for the most part only the functionality that I have had to use.  In that light, would you be able to point me to articles that describe the vb.net functionality in lower level terms (beginner to medium level)?

Again, your help will be greatly appreciated.
kdsdata