Future of VBS applications

A non-profit group I work with uses an application built around (are at least relies heavily on) VBS scripts. Converting the scripts to some other language is not an option; the application expects to invoke a VBS customized initialization script plus a bunch of other customized function scripts. The group is currently running a donated old Win 10 laptop (with another old donated "backup" laptop, just in case) so there's no worry of VBS being disabled on as long as they continue using those devices. However, if they are given a newer laptop running Win11, the deprecation of VBS is going to be an issue.

Has there been any mention of third-party support VBS once Microsoft disables it?

If the current vbscript.dll was saved in another library and registered, would VBS scripts continue working? (I suspect that's an incredibly naive question.)

VBS enclaves will continue to be supported in Windows 11 version 24H2 and later, as well as Windows Server 2025 and beyond. Just older versions of Windows will not be supported.

From the official timeline for VBScript deprecation, VBS won't be removed from Windows before 2027.

W11 21H2 thru 25H2, it's present and enabled by default.
W11 26H2, it's present but disabled by default. You will have to enable it as an Optional Feature from Settings.
After 26H2, it's permanently gone.

26H2 will be the last Windows you can run VBS scripts on, unless someone hacks to run on later Windows.

Spunk said:

VBS enclaves will continue to be supported in Windows 11 version 24H2 and later, as well as Windows Server 2025 and beyond. Just older versions of Windows will not be supported.

https://www.techspot.com/news/107609-microsoft-deprecating-revolutionary-virtualization-based-security-feature-older.html

Click to expand...

This is not the VBS that OP is talking about. VBScript.

pokeefe0001 said:

Has there been any mention of third-party support VBS once Microsoft disables it?

If the current vbscript.dll was saved in another library and registered, would VBS scripts continue working? (I suspect that's an incredibly naive question.)

Click to expand...

1. There is no 3rd-party support since VBS was a Windows-only product.

2. It's not about the DLL's. The Windows Scripting Host that runs VBS scripts is disappearing, because it's a security problem.

3. If an application is written as a series of scripts, it can probably execute inside a Virtual Machine which runs an older version of Windows. That's your fallback if moving the app to a W11 host doesn't work. They can always run the scripts inside a VM hosting a copy of W10.

Just convert them to powershell

dacrone said:

Just convert them to powershell

Click to expand...

I have no idea how this application invokes its associated scripts but I'm quite sure it doesn't know how to invoke the Powershell shell. I believe it does support Javascript scripts, but not, I think, for its initialization script.

What application… that would help quite a bit.. unless it’s proprietary and you cannot share details

dacrone said:

What application… that would help quite a bit.. unless it’s proprietary and you cannot share details

Click to expand...

MediaMonkey v4. There is a MediaMonkey v5 that does not use VBScript, but it does not support any of the customer-written extensions written over the past 20 years. A small number of those extensions have been rewritten to work in the new environment but not the few used by this organization. And the organization consists mostly of nontechnical senior citizens so in-house development is not going to happen. They are stuck with the VBS version until they move away from MediaMonkey altogether.
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