Microsoft reminds developers VBScript really is going away

Classes moved to VBA, but upgrading and testing is unavoidable

With the end of Windows 10 looming, Microsoft has reminded hard-pressed admins that other critical technologies are on the endangered list, notably VBScript.

While VBScript appears multiple times throughout Microsoft's technology stack, Microsoft's latest warning specifically concerns Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) developers who use the technology to automate tasks and extend Office applications.

Microsoft added VBScript to the deprecated list some time ago. In 2023, it warned that the technology would eventually transition to a Feature on Demand (FOD) status, before its eventual removal. Microsoft says it will disable VBScript FoDs by default in 2026 or 2027.

The problem facing VBA developers is how to future-proof their applications in the face of VBScript's impending demise. Microsoft says .vbs files will no longer be supported, but there is the issue of VBScript type libraries, such as VBScript.RegExp.

Microsoft's solution? An Office update, of course. From Office Version 2508, RegExp classes are included in VBA. This means that a reference to an external library (such as the soon-to-be-removed vbscript.dll) is not needed.

Early (Dim o As RegExp) or Late (Set o = CreateObject("VBScript.RegEx")) Binding should work. The latter behaves as before, but Microsoft says that once VBScript is removed or disabled, older versions of Office will no longer be able to run VBA code using these objects.

The advice to upgrade, disable VBScript, and test therefore makes sense. While Microsoft has made life a little easier by including the classes in VBA by default, enterprises faced with thousands (or more) lines of code gluing applications together in a corporate workflow will still need to conduct a validation exercise to ensure their processes work in a post-VBScript world.

Microsoft originally stated that VBScript FODs would be disabled by default "around 2027." The current language states that the disabling by default will occur in "approximately 2026 or 2027."

The vagueness surrounding the dates is not ideal, but the possibility of VBScript being disabled by default in 2026 means affected administrators will need to blow the dust off some likely elderly corporate code and get cracking on a validation and migration exercise sooner rather than later. ®