MicrosoftLooks like Microsoft is on the road to making Windows a useless operating system. When you take away the ability to run software you take away the ability to use Windows 11 as your operating system. Is the plan to make it that Windows will only be able to run Microsoft owned and issued programs? Windows 11 is a very poor operating system to begin with, but being in the medical community I have always had to use Windows because many medical programs only run under Windows. I am disgusted by how WIN 11 deletes files instead of moving them (with no warning) and how it takes forever to get something done because it is too busy playing with itself (doesn't have time to do what the computer operator is trying to do). Now it won't be able to run programs either unless the computer operator is a well versed in computer programs and applications, and can make all the work arounds function. WOW!! The only reason I had to come to this web page was because of a program that will no longer be able to function when this VBScript is totally deleted (which it appears from a different Microsoft web page that is has been as of 11/2025 though this page acts like it hasn't been). I am not a computer "geek". I don't know what PowerShell is or how to run it. It looks like we may have to return to using paper (or every one who needs to be able to use a computer in their line of work will be required to get a computer science degree, too). This situation is untenable (not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection).
I agree with you VBscript is much faster at alot of things and MS doesn't understand if you are using vbscript to leverage the computer to do work downloading python is a fireable offense, even using powershell as a non admin is too. Power Automate is too expensive and low functionality to use. VBScript has been able to be made then send off to another user and it just works, nothing needs to change.
I'm going to be generous and assume this is not a troll posting.
Good luck!
I also take issue with some of your comments. How is VBscript any less secure than JScript, batch, or PowerShell?
Additionally, I don't think you realize that if you cutoff VBScript, thousands of installers and deployments that have worked for decades suddenly stop working. Only two scripting language are available from Windows Installer: VBscript and Jscript. Microsoft has not integrated Custom Actions with .NET (Framework or Core) - although WiX has some capability here. Microsoft has even actually stated to use PowerShell as an alternative. This is completely misguided. Firstly, PowerShell is usually disabled by default. But, let's just say that the system allows an installer use it. There is no way to pass the installer handled to PowerShell. It has to be in the same process as msiexec.exe instance (which may or may not be elevated depending on the scheduling). Without the installer session handle, any out-of-process becomes useless as a viable Custom Action.
I don't even think Microsoft truly realizes the mass damage this will potentially cause. It's not just for administrators, but real-world including IIS and potentially even most Installer packages. The cost to fix this globally could literally be in the billions of dollars.
I'm intrigued about why you consider VBScript to be "an insecure language"? It's just a computer language. It runs under the CScript.EXE or WScript.EXE engines and interfaces with various other components - all of which are accessible to other languages, including JScript; would you consider JavaScript to be inherently insecure too? Surely the security is down to other factors, such as the user context the script engine runs under, and the COM/DCOM settings of any components it interfaces with (components which are equally accessible to other languages like C++ or C# etc.). The same is true of VBScript under Classic ASP - IIS can equally run JScript, or any other supported script language, e.g. Perl. What's the insecurity - or are you just being ageist about the language (joking, not trolling!)?
You are ignoring the real problem the user ktktkt is facing.
The real issue isn't that VBScript is "old"; it's Microsoft's decision to completely eliminate the language (even removing the ability to install it as an optional feature). This is throwing away the effort and investment of people who have relied on this language to develop systems for over 20 years.
VBScript is Not Equivalent to PowerShell
To say "the solution is PowerShell" is to misunderstand the use cases for these technologies.
VBA: Microsoft itself has been using VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) in Excel since 1993. VBA's basic syntax is nearly identical to VBScript, and it is used by millions of users to write macros. You don't just decommission a functional language with a million-user ecosystem after 30+ years by saying, "Oops, this is actually insecure." You patch it.
Classic ASP: Announced in 1996, Classic ASP, which formed the foundation of the internet at the time, was predominantly based on VBScript. You cannot expect a user to compensate for their accumulated knowledge in these areas (web applications, intranet portals, Excel automation) by simply telling them to "learn PowerShell."
Even if it were technically possible, you are ignoring the cost required for a company to rewrite an intranet application or automation system—developed over 3-5 years of effort—from scratch, just because the platform owner decided so. This means the loss of thousands of engineering hours and money.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has abandoned its users. They ignored Classic ASP users in the same way in the early 2000s. What was the result? At that time, while most of the internet was using Classic ASP, developers quickly migrated to PHP. For 25 years, approximately 80% of the internet runs on PHP. In fact, PHP's success paved the way for Python, which was born in 1991, to revive on the server side after 2000 and achieve its current popularity.
Microsoft abandoned an ecosystem it created (Classic ASP) and gifted 80% of the market to its competitor (PHP). Now, it is repeating a similar mistake by completely removing VBScript.
If Microsoft had made VBScript open-source and allowed the community to maintain it, this "modernization" move would be understandable. However, in its current form, this is a blow to the developers who trusted the platform.
Comments from users like ktktkt may be harsh, but this shows just how justified their anger is and how deep their disappointment runs.
