Why Is Microsoft Retiring VBScript After 30 Years?

VBScript, a scripting technology introduced by Microsoft in 1996 to attract web developers and leverage JScript, is now being removed from Windows as a deprecated feature.

Microsoft stated that VBScript will be offered only as an on‑demand feature before being completely removed from future Windows versions.

Just a month earlier, Microsoft also announced the retirement of the WordPad text editor.

VBScript originated as part of Microsoft Windows scripting technology in 1996, aiming to draw web developers by using Microsoft’s own JScript. Within about two years, VBScript 1.0 evolved to version 2.0 with various enhancements.

In March 1988, Alan Cooper demonstrated a prototype shell with dynamic widget capabilities to Bill Gates. Microsoft adopted “Quick Basic” on March 20, 1991, enabling rapid GUI‑based Windows application development, and the launch of Internet Explorer on August 1, 1996 further elevated VBScript’s importance.

The latest version of VBScript, 5.8, dates back to 2010.

The language was widely used by system administrators for automation until PowerShell’s introduction in 2006, which began to eclipse VBScript.

Microsoft’s documentation described VBScript as bringing active scripting to environments such as Internet Explorer client scripts and IIS server scripts.

Because other browser vendors never supported VBScript, web developers outside Microsoft’s ecosystem turned to JavaScript for client‑side tasks.

Microsoft had already indicated in 2016 that VBScript was deprecated in Internet Explorer, and in 2017 a site called IsVBScriptDead.com claimed the language was effectively dead.

In August 2019, Microsoft disabled VBScript in Internet Explorer, and with the June 2022 retirement of IE, the claim that VBScript still runs well became untenable.

Even a site updated on December 31, 2020 argued that VBScript, though seemingly outdated, remained useful for Windows administrators, sometimes more powerful than PowerShell scripts.

The discontinuation of VBScript also marks the formal end of Microsoft deployment toolkits that depended on it.

Microsoft’s decision is driven by security concerns, as VBScript has been used as a carrier for malware such as DarkGate, Lokibot, Qbot, Emotet, and others.

After nearly 30 years, the scripting language is being removed—should we mourn its loss?