Still, some developers said they think Microsoft made the right move.

"The VB.COM proposal is something I understand and sympathize with to an extent, but not something I support," said Andrew Brust, chief of new technology at Citigate Hudson, N.Y.

"I do think the petitioning MVPs make some valid criticisms, but I also think their proposal ultimately makes little business sense for Microsoft and that there are no easy answers to the problem they raise.

"In a nutshell, VB, when it was first introduced, made Windows development instantly fun, productive and simple.

".Net, it could be argued, made things more complex. The fact is that .Net also gave VB-style development much more integrity, and made it more scalable and industrial-strength—and that was needed, because VB couldn't measure up to J2EE with those criteria in mind."

London-based Bullen offered an analogy between the Microsoft situation and Coca-Cola Co.'s predicament with the new Coke some years ago.

"Once the Coca-Cola Company realized their 'new, improved Coke' did not meet with the universal approval they expected, they reconsidered their mistake and reintroduced Classic Coke alongside the new flavor," Bullen said.

"Most people agree that Microsoft made a similar mistake when they introduced VB.Net as a replacement for VB6 (and, we fear, for VBA).

"We are asking Microsoft to follow Coca-Cola's lead and reintroduce 'Classic VB' to the marketplace, alongside and coexisting with VB .Net."

Meanwhile, SoftCircuits' Wood summed it up: "At the very least, Microsoft needs to find a way to convince customers that code written using Microsoft languages will not become obsolete as soon as Microsoft decides to market a new platform."

This article was first published on eweek.com.