So OOP is actually just using classes?

There's loads more to OOP than just classes but to use OOP you have to use classes yep ;)

I commend this change, because classes is one of the only things in vB-related PHP that I find utterly confusing. Seeing more of them in the vB backend will definetely make me learn them.
I learn better by seeing actual examples than just the silly php.net examples and the likes :)

OOP is a fine thing if used correctly.

OOP just for the use of OOP is bad.

The best thing i can think of right now, is the subclasses system. That way it should be possible to overwrite some of vb's code for hacking, and still upgrading to a new version will be easy with just uploading the new files. Of course to get it really that easy it needs a very very good plan, and maybe a complete different structure, so i'd assume it's then called vb 4 ;)

Whether you're joking or not, it would have to become vB4 given how the current structure is effectively completely non-OOP (except for notable exceptions like the MySQL wrapper class)...unless Jelsoft has some uber-kickass-refactoring system for PHP that I don't know about (and would love to have).

so does that mean this doesn't really help any of us right now due to the structure of vb3?

@dean: thanks

exactly.

to take real advantage of OOP vb would have to be completely recoded on all major parts

if their to recode the entire thing then i believe they should release some documentation for developers to properly update and prepare for it. it is unfair to new vb users who have the new version not to be able to use the numerous hacks for the old vb3 code and also denying many from upgrading since basically they would loose every hack they installed since if they recoded none would be compatiable anymore.

I never heard of OOP... is it harder then PHP?

OOP is not a language or anything super-mysterious. It is just a way of programming (object-oriented programming) such that all of your code and statements is wrapped in classes and instantiated into objects, including support for inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism.

Inheritance: inheriting functionality from a parent class into a child class.
Encapsulation: encapsulating data (usually privately) within a class.
Polymorphism: having a reference to a base class that might call methods in a child class (complex to explain without the classic example A foo = new B();)

If you do not know OOP, you had better learn it. Every major language is already OOP or is becoming it.