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The Visual Basic story starts earlier than 1991. 
In the late 80s, Alan Cooper was building a Windows “shell construction set”, a tool that would let different users shape Windows around their needs instead of forcing one interface onto everyone. The spark, according to Cooper, clicked during a sales call tied to Bank of America: Windows had to serve highly technical admins, semi-technical analysts, and people unfamiliar with computers—like tellers. The conclusion was simple: don’t build one shell, build a tool that lets each group build their shell.

00:00 — The 2:07 AM Fix
01:30 — Before VB
03:05 — Ruby → Thunder
05:09 — Sponsor (Convex)
06:09 — VB6 Peak
08:10 — .NET & Afterlife

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Visual Basic began in 1991 as a revolutionary tool that made Windows development accessible by combining drag-and-drop interface design with BASIC programming. Originally conceived by Alan Cooper as a shell construction set called Ruby, Bill Gates transformed it into a visual programming environment. VB6 became the dominant version for business applications throughout the late 1990s, powering countless internal tools for inventory, payroll, and reporting. When Microsoft released VB.NET in 2002, most companies chose not to migrate due to the complexity and risk of rewriting working systems. Today, VB6 applications continue running in production environments worldwide, not because the language failed, but because it succeeded so well that businesses became dependent on it.

The Untold Story of Visual Basic