I don't know about VB but lots of programmers work in Linux. Most use Vim
or Emacs.

Visual Basic is a 'Windows only' application used to program for
Windows - it ain't gonna work in Ubuntu no matter what you try

If the VM works then that's what you'll need to do, at least you don't
have to dual-boot.

Next question is what are you wanting to program for ? You'll get
nowhere fast trying to use VB to program for Ubuntu !

VB is the only language I know, so that is what I use. I know the stuff I
write will not work on Ubuntu, just want to get back to doing some
programming so I'm ready for job interviews etc.

The world runs on Windows.....so that is what I must program for.

Stick with WinXP in VM then - it'll do the job and isn't that onerous
to fire up a session and run alongside Ubuntu :-)

You'll still need a Windows box though to test the code on unless you
have a few willing volunteers. Code that works in virtual environment
may not work out of it ( and vice-versa ), WinXP is coming to end of
life too so you'll also need Win7 to test on.

BM> VB is the only language I know, so that is what I use.

VB is very good and efficient. But it has one essential disadvantage: zero
portability. It is for Windows and only for Windows. It is good for
strengthening a monopoly. That is why I abandoned studying it.
Yes, indeed, if you want to program only in VB you need Windows for
programming and Windows for running the programs.
In what kind of VB do you program ? I used VB6.0 in 2007.

VB 6.0 can be installed under Windows XP but not under Windows 7. The programs
made in VB6.0 run both under Windows XP and 7.

You might try looking into mono-vbnc in the repositories. I haven't
programmed in basic of any sort after the late 80s I switched to python,
ocaml, C. I am kind of fond of UML modelers. I relize that basic is
structured better now but won't go back.

Mono-VBNC is in the Ubuntu repositories. Now i see. Thanks for the tip. I am
going to play with it.
These days this thread brought me back to Gambas and I worked a little with
it.

Have you look at Gambas? It isn't like VB but does programmed like it.
And there are others that programes like VB but is defferant in the way
they work.
If you know VB then the learning curve would be short.

No, just part of the world. roughly 89 % of the desktops. Roughly 60 % of the
servers run on Linux. The rest...well...most of the rest run on Windows. Here
more than 90 % of the servers run on Linux and almost 100 % of the desktops on
Windows.

It is a matter if what platform you are developing for and what
language you are developing in. I dont know for sure what you mean by "do
some programming in VB." Are you trying to write an OS or application to
run on virtual box or are you referring to visual basic? I am only familiar
with the eclipse ide in linux, but I do know there are a few different
options similar to VB. A quick Google shows a second result as a forum
post
indicating one option that has fully compatable libraries... sorry
couldn't figure out how to make a link copy on this new mobile....

There is something similar to VB for Linux, that is RealBASIC but it is not
so easy as VB. Also, there is Gambas, but it does not make standalone
executables as RealBASIC does.
 As far as I know, VB does not run in Wine (I have tried that several times)
and the programs made in VB do not run in Wine.
 A really useful BASIcvariant for Linux is FreeBASIC. It is awesome ! And it
also makes standalone executables.

I too looked at VB but having originally worked
in Pascal, I settled on Delphi running on a Windows OS. Now with
Open Source, I have looked at Free Pascal using Lazarus but have
not done much with it. Of course there are the options of
Perl, Python, Ruby to think about too.

I found this one:
vb....a.com/.../Running_Visual_Basic_under_Ubuntu_Linux

I am curious about other possibilities. Using VB for Linux. A real one.