Microsoft has announced the official end of VBScript following years of reduced support. VBScript is one of the variations Microsoft created based on the original VB, and it has languished after the dropping of default support in Internet Explorer back in 2019.

Announcing the move, Microsoft said they are:

"replacing VBScript with more advanced alternatives such as JavaScript and PowerShell".

Visual Basic Scripting Edition is the lightweight scripting language first introduced by Microsoft in 1996, since when it has been a system component in Windows and widely used in HTML pages.

Microsoft's reasoning for its discontinuation is that other scripting languages, such as JavaScript and PowerShell. are more powerful and versatile, offer broader capabilities and are better suited for modern web development and automation tasks.

The news of the phased deprecation of VBScript was officially made last October, but the timetable has now been firmed up. Beginning with the new release of Windows 11 24H2 due later this year, VBScript will be available as  a "feature on demand" (FOD). It will then be completely retired from future Windows OS releases, with Microsoft pushing PowerShell as a better alternative.

Deprecation will occur in three phases. In the first phase, VBScript FODs will be pre-installed in all Windows 11, version 24H2 and on by default. Around 2027, the VBScript FODs will no longer be enabled by default. This means that if you still rely on VBScript by that time, you'll need to enable the FODs to prevent your applications and processes from having problems.

In the final phase (for which Microsoft hasn't specified a date) VBScript will be retired and eliminated from future versions of Windows. This means all the dynamic link libraries (.dll files) of VBScript will be removed. As a result, projects that rely on VBScript will stop functioning.

One thing to watch out for are VBA projects that use VBScript. VBScript can currently be used in Visual Basic for Applications either by calling a .vbs script directly from VBA or by using it as a typelib reference (such as VBScript regular expression) in VBA. In either case, this will stop working in phase two of the deprecation.

More Information

Blog Post Announcing VBScript Deprecation

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