Everyone knows by now that VB.NET is a completely new language. There are even those of us who believe that Microsoft was brushing elbows with deceptive marketing in calling it "Visual Basic". I've always liked "VB#" as a name. Hey! They did it for J#!

But I've recently started instructing a Visual Basic class that is based on VB 6 and a lot of students have been asking the question, "Just what is the difference between VB 6 and VB.NET?" I've decided to give them a better answer than just, "A lot!" Here's my personal take on the reasons for the change and the top five differences. Let me know if you agree!