Visual Basic is a set of updates for Windows comctl32.ocx and mscomctl.ocx files. It provides fixes for errors described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, which at the moment are unavailable on the official website and Internet Archive.

Programming language

It provides users the ability to design programs, set up custom controls and create web-based applications.

Advantages

There is a flexible and customizable programming environment which allows you to build Windows applications. You can start with visually creating a graphical user interface, and then add the required code. It takes less time to write fully functional software, in contrast to C and C++ programming languages. Visual Basic employs reusable compiled libraries to increase the overall speed.

It is possible to create databases, front-end applications and scalable server-side components for Microsoft SQL Server. Furthermore, the ActiveX technology allows you to use the functionality provided by other programs, such as word processors and spreadsheets. Due to licensing limitations, it does not work with Adobe Reader.

Disadvantages

Official support for the development tools ended in 2008 but applications created by Visual Basic continue to run on modern Windows versions.

Features

free to download and use;
official release by Microsoft;
there is no uninstall file;
development tools are no longer supported;
compatible with modern 32-bit Windows versions.