Visual C++ 6.0 was released in 1998 as a component of Visual Studio 6.0. For three years, until the launch of Visual Studio .NET to support the .NET Framework, it was Microsoft's premier development product. Now five service packs old, version 6.0 remains the environment of choice for many developers who haven't yet made the move to .NET. If your aim is to learn how to program in C++ on the Windows platform, with all the help offered by the Visual Studio interface, Visual C++ 6.0 remains a sound choice..