We received news today that old versions of Virtual Earth will be retired this year. We had already been told that Version 2 was being switched off come March 31st but the news today is that Versions 3,4 and 5 will end on August 31, 2008.
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2942688&SiteID=1
Version 5 will be automatically redirected to Version 6, the current release. Since there are no breaking changes these application will simply be upgraded automatically.
For those running old versions now is the time to start upgrading. Version 6 is stable, offers some great performance features and new functionlaity.
For those looking at coding with Version 6 I highly recommend looking at Visual Studio 2008. Not only does it off great support for css and web design layout but a recent community project has added intellisence for Virtual Earth Version 6.
Need to upgrade to v6? Richard from infusion has a great article for you:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161073.aspx
What is new in Version 6?
http://www.viawindowslive.com/Articles/VirtualEarth/WhatsnewinVersion6.aspx