Microsoft updated its programming languages strategy, confirming that Visual Basic will remain a going concern even though it's still relegated to second-rate status when compared to C# and F#.

Microsoft has revealed it will support Visual Basic on .NET 5 but also that it has no plans to evolve the language.

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With the release of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4, it's time for Visual Basic developers to start leveraging the new capabilities of Visual Basic 2010.

However, its longevity means that plenty of older versions are still hanging around. Visual Studio 2015 is to be the next in line for the end of security updates from Microsoft.

Despite renewed developer hue and cry to do something with 'classic' Visual Basic sparked by the recent 25th birthday celebration for the programming language, Microsoft is showing no signs of caving ...

Second, however, Microsoft has seen that Visual Basic has twice the share of new developers in Visual Studio as it does of all developers.

According to Microsoft, Visual Studio 2015 moves to extended support only (security fixes only) on October 14, 2025, while Visual Studio 2017 reaches that stage on April 13, 2027.

Visual Studio 2022 introduced a major overhaul for the Mac version including a native user interface and Apple Silicon optimization while going full 64-bit for the first time.