There were 2 releases between VS6 and VS2005, so slightly slower than the current cadence of a new release every couple of years but not by much. I think VS6 remained popular for a long time because it was the last release before they switched to the heavier .NET-based IDE.
Re:Usability of Old Computers
by aleph_minus_one on Sunday September 24, 2023 @06:29PM
(#37637789)
> I think VS6 remained popular for a long time because it was the last release before they switched to the heavier .NET-based IDE.
The in my opinion the much more important reason was that Visual Studio 6 was the last version of Visual Studio that was capable of running under Windows 9x (every version of Visual Studio that was released after required some Windows-NT-based Windows version; Visual Studio .NET 2002 was the last version to run under Windows NT 4.0: Visual Studio .NET 2003 required at least Windows 2000; keep in mind that Windows XP came only out end of October 2001).
It was still mainstream in 2005, I think. Do you remember if I get that right? At least we were using it at work in 2005.
VS release cadence is much faster nowadays, isn't it? :)