As a result, I developed a delusion and came to believe that the designers of Visual Basic wanted to make it into a good general purpose language. They never promised this in any way. They never described it as one of their goals. Although some of their actions in version 4 might have reinforced this illusion, there was little evidence in version 5 and nothing in version 6 to support it. I can only blame myself, but now that I recognize the delusion, I can work on the cure.
Funny thing is, they're probably right from a financial standpoint.
The improvements I want probably aren't going to win any new customers. Most of us can't quit VB for financial and professional reasons, no matter how frustrated we get. Better to suffer, while limitations are sufferable, than to abandon the languages to which we are accustomed. Visual Basic designers have chosen to pile more and more doodads on a weak foundation, knowing that doodads, not foundations, sell boxes. Perhaps they've made the right choice, but there's a price to be paid.