Microsoft to Begin VBScript Deprecation With New Windows Update in H2 2024

• Microsoft announced the deprecation of VBScript in October last year.
• The company has now released a timeline for the scripting language’s retirement, expected sometime after 2027.
• The first phase of the VBScript deprecation will start in the second half of 2024 with the Windows 11 24H2 update.

Twenty-seven years after Microsoft rolled out VBScript in 1996, the company announced it would sunset the scripting language last year. This week, Microsoft provided a detailed timeline for deprecating VBScript, which is prone to cybersecurity issues.

Microsoft said VBScript will be phased out in the second half of 2024 and will be available as a feature on demand within the Windows operating system.

VBScript was primarily leveraged to develop interactive web pages in Internet Explorer (IE) and later Edge in IE mode. It enabled task automation and was designed for client-side scripting. VBScript’s server-side scripting support extended for Microsoft’s Personal Web Server (PWS), Internet Information Server (IIS), and Active Server Pages (ASP).

“Technology has advanced over the years, giving rise to more powerful and versatile scripting languages such as JavaScript and PowerShell. These languages offer broader capabilities and are better suited for modern web development and automation tasks,” noted Naveen Shankar Chilla, program manager at Microsoft.

With VBScript retiring, cybercriminals using two of the most well-known malware – QakBot, DarkGate, and Emotet – should find it hard to continue operations. One of the most recent cyberattack campaigns suspected to have emerged from North Korea, DEEP#GOSU, also relies on VBScript.

Going forward, as part of phase 1 of the VBScript deprecation, the scripting language as a feature on demand will be enabled by default after the Windows 11 24H2 update before eventually being removed from the OS.

This ensures organizations’ applications, processes, and other dependencies aren’t disrupted.

See More: Microsoft to Deprecate NT LAN Manager in Windows 11

In 2027, the VBScript deprecation will enter phase 2, wherein it will be available as a feature of demand but disabled by default.

VBScript Deprecation Timeline

Source: Microsoft

“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. By then, we expect that you’ll have switched to suggested alternatives.

Microsoft is advising users to migrate to alternatives such as Javascript or Powershell based on their dependencies. 

JavaScript, supported by several popular web browsers, dominates modern web development. Meanwhile, VBScript was supported only by Internet Explorer, which was retired a few years ago.

Besides retiring VBScript, Windows 11 24H2 also includes updates such as Sudo for Windows, Rust in the Windows kernel, AI-based Voice Clarity, 7-zip and TAR archives creation capabilities in File Explorer, and a bunch of other performance, security, and quality of life updates. Windows 11 24H2 is also the first version to support Copilot+ PCs.

Per Windows Central, Windows 11 24H2 will ship in September 2024.

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