MicrosoftDear Microsoft Team,
Instead of deprecating vbscript.dll, perhaps you should reconsider the decision-making approach that has led to this decision!
Have you fully assessed the cascading impact this move could have on businesses worldwide? While Microsoft may have the financial resources, technical capabilities, and manpower to replace or upgrade its own products that depend on vbscript.dll, thousands of businesses outside the Microsoft Office ecosystem continue to rely on mission-critical, real-time line-of-business (LOB) applications developed using VB6, many of which extensively utilize the scripting runtime engine (this includes SCRRUN.dll/MSSCRIPT.OCX which internally using VBSCRIPT.dll).
We have invested considerable time and effort in designing, developing, and thoroughly testing a robust ERP application that extensively relies on the VBScript runtime environment. This ERP solution is currently being used by hundreds of clients to manage their day-to-day business operations. It is a well-established, stable, and business-critical application.
It is difficult to imagine a scenario where, one fine morning, such applications could suddenly stop functioning simply because Microsoft has decided that VBScript no longer has a place in the Windows ecosystem.
Has Microsoft adequately considered the enormous migration effort, redevelopment costs, business disruption, and potential operational risks this decision could impose on businesses that have built their operations around these technologies?
Technology evolves, and we understand that Microsoft must periodically modernize and secure its platforms. However, deprecation decisions involving widely used legacy components should take into account the thousands of businesses and software solutions that continue to depend on them.
I sincerely urge Microsoft to reconsider and roll back this decision, or at the very least provide a practical, long-term compatibility roadmap that allows businesses to continue running their existing applications without disruption.
Please do not overlook the interests of thousands of businesses that depend on these technologies. For many of us, VBScript is not simply a legacy technology; it is an integral part of business-critical software that continues to deliver real value every single day.
Yes, VBSCRIPT is legacy technology but it is still commercially valuable and operationally essential. Retain VBScript as an optional Windows feature, rather than removing its availability altogether. That is a more practical and viable decision.
I hope Microsoft will give this concern the serious consideration it deserves.
Regards,
Calling on Microsoft to bring back VBScript in 2026 just shows you don't understand how this industry works. Every technology gets deprecated eventually, and VBScript was never going to be the exception. It's insecure, and there are far better alternatives available.
Microsoft first officially advised against VBScript back in 2013, when Internet Explorer 11 dropped it for modern web pages and explicitly told developers to use JavaScript instead. That's more than a decade to migrate. If you're still building on VBScript today, that's on you, not Microsoft. You were the one asleep at the wheel.
VBscript is used in Web applications, administration, and core Windows Installer custom action applications, just to name a few. How exactly is JScript (MSFT recommended replacement) more secure than VBScript? Here's a more complete list of core technologies affected by its deprecation:
This means that products that have worked for decades immediately stop working once removed. The industry has even seen low level driver installers fail on systems where it has been removed. There was no warning of VBScript going away for all those items until this announcement. Many of those original developers have moved on. I don't think you realize the impact to the industry. The costs of refactoring tens of thousands of different applications and utilities developed over the past two and a half decades are staggering. This could easily be in the hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars total global impact.
Your argument is valid in principle, but it overlooks a fundamental technical distinction: VBScript used in web browsers is not the same as VBScript running server-side or embedded in business applications.
The fact that Internet Explorer dropped VBScript support in 2013 does not mean that Classic ASP applications, ERP systems, and other business-critical software necessarily had to be rewritten from that point onward.
Furthermore, technological progress does not always translate into economic benefits. Rewriting a stable, properly secured, and fully functional application can involve significant costs, introduce new risks, and deliver no real business advantage.
Of course, planning migrations and addressing security concerns is important. But dismissing the issue with “you’ve had ten years” ignores the complexity of real-world enterprise IT systems.
A good developer knows when to innovate, but also when to maintain what already works. True expertise isn’t about always using the latest technology; it’s about choosing the most appropriate solution based on actual business needs, risks, and available resources.
