The bug has been in the wild for 8 years, so there are almost certainly customers who have VBA scripts that rely on that behavior. Microsoft puts a lot of emphasis on backward compatibility (or at least they used to), so I think there will be some internal debate on whether fixing the bug is more or less disruptive than just leaving it in.
Fix or don't fix aren't the only two options. The third option is to provide a fix that can be enabled or disabled by compiler users as needed.
For maximum backward compatibility, the fix could be disabled by default. But enabling by default still provides a path to backward compatibility with a small amount of manual work for those who need it.
For those who don't want the broken behavior, it might be a hassle to have to enable the fix, but that's still much better than not having a fix and having to write crazy code as a workaround.
> The bug has been in the wild for 8 years, so there are almost certainly customers who have VBA scripts that rely on that behavior
Most people weren't using 64 bit office until it became the default in 2019. Companies using any sort of legacy add-ins may still be using 32 bit office in 2021.
It's very unlikely that there's much VBA code relying on this specific broken behavior in 64 bit versions.
There's a reason "bug for bug compatibility" is a thing, but this isn't it. I highly doubt anyone is relying on this, because it's completely stupid behavior.
That noted, a broken IF statement does seem like a very serious compiler bug. And especially since the correct behavior occurs on Macs, I think a fix is necessary. The language should be consistent across all platforms at the very least.
> I highly doubt anyone is relying on this, because it's completely stupid behavior.
1. The person who posted the SO question said they rely on it. There are probably more who haven't discovered they're affected by this or who haven't spoken up yet.
2. An average VBA developer might be more likely to do something like this than you would be.
I just re-read the whole page, and, no, the SO poster is not relying on it. And, if anyone is relying on a bug that makes an if condition go the wrong way, that's so monumentally stupid, they deserve to have their stuff break.
