VBScript is an active scripting language that has been part of Windows history since Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack and Windows CE. Now, after 25 years on the market, the language and its host environment have been officially phased out by Microsoft.
VBScript, also known as Microsoft Visual Basic scripting version, is mainly designed to provide developers and advanced users with an efficient way to control the Windows environment and automate tasks. VBScript is modeled after the Visual Basic programming language, which is closely tied to Internet Explorer (IE), and will soon experience the same results.
Microsoft eliminated the prestigious IE browser in June 2022. Now, the latest update to the official list of deprecated features in Windows client systems indicates that VBScript will also be deprecated. The updated page states that in future versions of Windows, VBScript will only be available as an optional "on-demand feature" installed based on user input, and in a few years, the feature will be completely removed from the operating system.
As Microsoft officially explains, Features on Demand (FOD) are Windows features that can be added to the operating system at any time after the initial installation. Common FOD options include language resources for handwriting recognition, older .NET Framework (.NetFx3) packages, Windows Subsystem for Linux, and even a Windows Type-1 (native) hypervisor called Hyper-V.
VBScript officially joins a growing list of historical Windows features that Microsoft decided to remove for unspecified (and sometimes questionable) reasons. The much-maligned Internet Explorer browser is no more (in Windows 11), and WordPad (first included in Windows 95) will soon be deprecated.
Despite Microsoft's ambitions, VBScript never gained acceptance from third-party browser manufacturers and was ultimately limited to the Internet Explorer ecosystem. Redmond first introduced PowerShell in 2006, providing a new, more powerful scripting and automation environment, while VBScript was last updated to version 5.8 in 2010.
However, VBScript was extremely successful among malware writers and cybercriminals, who still use the scripting language to spread some of the most notorious computer threats (Lokibot, Emotet, Qbot). Microsoft did not explain why it ultimately decided to deprecate VBScript, but the malware writers mentioned above may have to find alternative distribution methods in the future.