Great guide. For simple applications porting a VB.Classic application to Gambas is actually easier than converting it/them into VB.Net. Just for fun, I have done this to eight of my simple apps. Gambas syntax is nearly identical to VB.Classic and many instances IT IS actually identical.

Also, if you are not ready for Linux then give FreeBasic a shot. There are several free and fully featured WinOS based IDE's for it.