Microsoft's gentle-but-urgent nudge that VBScript really is on the way out has moved from rumor to a concrete program of deprecation, and the implications for enterprise automation and long‑running VBA codebases are immediate and real. Microsoft has confirmed a staged removal plan that will make VBScript a Feature on Demand (FOD) and then disable it by default before eventually removing the runtime entirely — a sequence that forces administrators and developers to inventory, validate and migrate any solutions that rely on vbscript.dll, .vbs files or VBScript type libraries such as VBScript.RegExp. This article explains what Microsoft has announced, what has changed in Office builds that may affect VBA RegExp usage, and lays out a practical, prioritized migration and validation playbook for IT teams and developers wrestling with thousands of lines of legacy code.
Microsoft publicly marked VBScript as deprecated in its list of deprecated Windows features and explained a three‑phase plan: move VBScript to Features on Demand (FOD), then stop enabling the FOD by default, and finally retire/remove the runtime from future Windows versions. The guidance and detection recommendations are in Microsoft's Windows IT Pro posts and the deprecated features documentation, which describe the timetable and provide detection strategies for enterprises facing a broad surface area of potential breakage. (learn.microsoft.com) (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
Third‑party vendors that ship long‑lived products bound to Windows are already reacting. For example, GIS vendor Esri has aligned its product deprecation timelines with Microsoft's phases and advised ArcGIS customers to migrate VBScript expressions to supported languages such as Arcade and Python, showing how vendor ecosystems will follow Microsoft’s lead to avoid runtime failures when VBScript is no longer present on Windows images.
Key dates and phases (as Microsoft describes them)
Security and maintenance are core reasons for the move. VBScript has been exploited in the wild by malware families for years; deprecating and eventually removing the runtime reduces a vector attackers have historically used. But the tradeoff is clear: organizations must modernize code and processes that used VBScript before functionality stops working by default. (thehackernews.com)
Recent reporting and community discussion suggest Microsoft has taken steps to reduce breakage, but the precise guarantees are unclear:
The inclusion of RegExp‑related behavioral changes in Office Version 2508 is a signal that Microsoft and the Office team are aware of the dependency surface and are (at minimum) tinkering with how RegExp objects are provided to VBA. But the safest posture for enterprise teams is conservative: assume vbscript.dll can be absent on certain future images and plan migrations accordingly, rather than relying on a particular Office build to shield you indefinitely. Community reports and bug threads about Version 2508 demonstrate both the value and limits of short‑term mitigations; they are useful flags, not long‑term guarantees. (qiita.com, catalog.update.microsoft.com)
VBScript’s deprecation is a clear example of platform hygiene forcing modernization. The task ahead is largely operational: inventory, test, migrate, and validate. For every line of legacy glue code that’s converted to PowerShell, JavaScript (Office.js), Python, or a tidy COM/.NET service, an organization reduces future fragility and removes an avoidable maintenance burden. The clock is ticking toward a world where Windows no longer ships VBScript by default — treat this as a scheduled engineering project, not an aspirational IT backlog item.
Source: theregister.com Microsoft reminds developers VBScript really is going away
Microsoft publicly marked VBScript as deprecated in its list of deprecated Windows features and explained a three‑phase plan: move VBScript to Features on Demand (FOD), then stop enabling the FOD by default, and finally retire/remove the runtime from future Windows versions. The guidance and detection recommendations are in Microsoft's Windows IT Pro posts and the deprecated features documentation, which describe the timetable and provide detection strategies for enterprises facing a broad surface area of potential breakage. (learn.microsoft.com) (techcommunity.microsoft.com)Third‑party vendors that ship long‑lived products bound to Windows are already reacting. For example, GIS vendor Esri has aligned its product deprecation timelines with Microsoft's phases and advised ArcGIS customers to migrate VBScript expressions to supported languages such as Arcade and Python, showing how vendor ecosystems will follow Microsoft’s lead to avoid runtime failures when VBScript is no longer present on Windows images.
Key dates and phases (as Microsoft describes them)
- Phase 1 — VBScript becomes a Feature on Demand and remains enabled by default in supported OS builds (already in effect on various 24H2/2024+ builds). (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
- Phase 2 — Around 2026–2027, Microsoft will disable VBScript FODs by default (administrators would need to re‑enable them). Microsoft’s language has varied slightly — earlier guidance said “around 2027” and more recent wording says “approximately 2026 or 2027.” (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
- Phase 3 — At an unspecified later date, VBScript will be retired and removed from Windows; vbscript.dll and associated runtime artifacts will be eliminated and applications depending on them will fail. (learn.microsoft.com)
Why this matters now — the practical stakes
VBScript is not just an old .vbs file type used by hobbyists: it appears across enterprise landscapes in several ways:- As standalone scripts (.vbs) executed by WScript/CScript for scheduled tasks or installers.
- As embedded glue code and automation inside line‑of‑business tools, installers, and legacy management packs.
- As type libraries exposed to VBA, notably the VBScript Regular Expressions (VBScript_RegExp_55) library — many Excel, Access and Word macros call CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp") or set a reference to that library for pattern matching workflows.
- As scripting glue inside other vendor products (for example ArcGIS label expressions, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit recipes, and product customizers) that assumed the OS would always provide VBScript.
Security and maintenance are core reasons for the move. VBScript has been exploited in the wild by malware families for years; deprecating and eventually removing the runtime reduces a vector attackers have historically used. But the tradeoff is clear: organizations must modernize code and processes that used VBScript before functionality stops working by default. (thehackernews.com)
The Office / VBA RegExp point of confusion — what Microsoft has and hasn’t confirmed
A central concern for VBA developers is the fate of VBScript type libraries: will things like VBScript.RegExp (the common RegExp object used by VBA through the VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 library) continue to work after VBScript is disabled or removed?Recent reporting and community discussion suggest Microsoft has taken steps to reduce breakage, but the precise guarantees are unclear:
- Microsoft’s public deprecation scope and guidance focus on the VBScript runtime (vbscript.dll) and FOD behavior; Microsoft’s Windows IT Pro guidance offers detection strategies and migration options but does not clearly promise perpetual VBScript type library compatibility inside Office for older builds. (techcommunity.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- There are community reports that behavior changed in certain Office builds — notably Version 2508 of Microsoft 365 Apps — where some developers observed differences around RegExp usage in VBA, including assertion failures on specific method calls when using late binding (CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")). The Office beta/channel release notes record Version 2508 builds but do not contain a clear Microsoft statement that RegExp classes were "moved into VBA" as a permanent replacement for vbscript.dll for all supported Office versions. These community reports are important but do not equate to an authoritative guarantee from Microsoft. (learn.microsoft.com, qiita.com)
What to expect when VBScript FODs are disabled or removed
When the FOD is disabled by default (Phase 2) or removed entirely (Phase 3), the visible failure modes include:- .vbs scripts invoked by scheduled tasks, software installers, or user actions will not execute or will error out.
- Late binding in VBA (Set o = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")) may fail if the underlying COM server is no longer present; early binding (Dim o As RegExp / New RegExp) might still work in Office builds that include compatible typelib entries, but this is environment‑specific and not guaranteed forever. (qiita.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- Vendor products that rely on the OS‑supplied VBScript engine (for example, plugin expression editors, installer custom actions, or embedded script runners) will break unless the vendor ships an alternate runtime or updates the product.
- Systems with tightly controlled images that never install optional features may face sudden failures when Windows images begin shipping without VBScript preinstalled.
A practical migration and validation playbook
This is not a theoretical exercise. Enterprises should treat VBScript deprecation as a multi‑quarter modernization program. Below is a prioritized, executable playbook broken into discovery, mitigation, migration and verification phases.1. Immediate: Inventory and detection (days 0–14)
- Run an enterprise‑wide search for:
- Files with .vbs, old batch wrappers that shell to cscript/wscript, scheduled tasks that call .vbs files.
- VBA projects that reference "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5" or call CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp"), CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject"), CreateObject("WScript.Shell").
- Installer packages and vendor tools that execute VBScript as part of setup, custom actions, or runtime configuration.
- Use OS telemetry to detect vbscript.dll loads:
- Deploy Sysmon rules that track DLL loads and log processes that load vbscript.dll; aggregate across endpoints. Microsoft recommends Sysmon and provides detection guidance for VBScript use. (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
- Prioritize by business impact:
- Rank scripts and macros by production criticality: scheduled production jobs, data pipelines, regulatory reporting, and customer‑facing services first.
2. Short term mitigations (weeks 1–8)
- If you must keep VBScript working in the near term, plan to enable the FOD on affected images or create a company FOD package for image deployment — but treat this as temporary bandage work. Microsoft’s phased approach expects admins to re‑enable FODs when needed, but that will not be forever. (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
- For VBA projects using RegExp:
- Prefer early binding (add the "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5" reference and declare Dim r as New RegExp). This can avoid some late‑binding issues observed in certain Office updates. Community reports indicate early binding may remain more stable in some Office builds where late binding fails. However, this is not a permanent workaround if vbscript.dll is removed from the OS. (qiita.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- Where feasible, replace .vbs files with PowerShell scripts. PowerShell is the recommended modern scripting language for Windows automation and has robust, supported hosting across Windows Server and client images.
3. Medium term migration (1–6 months)
- Replace VBScript RegExp usage in VBA with alternative approaches:
- Add a compiled COM shim that wraps .NET’s System.Text.RegularExpressions and exposes it as a COM object for VBA to call — a practical approach if you need richer regex flavors and long‑term stability.
- Rework logic to use native VBA string functions where possible; for complex tasks, implement logic in a COM add‑in or an Office JavaScript (Office.js) add‑in where appropriate.
- For vendor products (ArcGIS and others), follow vendor migration guidance and patch timelines. Vendors are already issuing guidance and deprecation notices aligned with Microsoft’s phases; work with vendors to prioritize updates or replacement.
4. Testing and verification (ongoing)
- Build test suites:
- For each migrated script or macro, create deterministic unit tests and sample datasets that exercise edge cases (nulls, empty strings, unusual character encodings).
- Staged rollouts:
- Use a ring‑based rollout: test box → pilot group → broad deployment. Validate both behavior and performance under production loads.
- Maintain runbooks and rollback plans:
- Keep versioned backups of classic scripts/macros and an automated rollback mechanism if a migration introduces functional regression.
5. Long term: Remove technical debt and standardize
- Use the migration as an opportunity to remove hidden technical debt — consolidate scattered scripts into managed repositories, implement CI/CD for macro/Office add‑in testing, and adopt standards for string handling, regex flavors, and error handling.
- Consider replacing complex VBA workflows with supported server‑side services (APIs) that expose cleaned, tested logic to clients rather than leaving brittle macros on user desktops.
Specific guidance for VBA RegExp usage
Many VBA codebases use RegExp via the VBScript regular expressions library. Here’s how to treat that dependency:- If your code uses early binding:
- Add a reference in the VBA IDE: Tools → References → "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5", then declare Dim r As VBScript_RegExp_55.RegExp or Dim r As New RegExp. This is often more stable than late binding in the face of subtle host changes. Community reports have highlighted that early binding avoided certain assertion failures seen in late binding under Office Version 2508. (qiita.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- If your code uses late binding (CreateObject):
- Expect failures if the underlying COM object (vbscript.dll) is removed from the OS; late binding is the most fragile in a world where the system COM providers may disappear.
- Migration options:
- Reimplement regex logic using a COM wrapper around .NET’s System.Text.RegularExpressions for long‑term reliability.
- Where possible, use PowerShell or a compiled add‑in for heavy text processing tasks rather than relying on VBA runtime dependencies.
Migration case studies and vendor reactions — the ArcGIS example
ArcGIS is a clear, real‑world example of how vendor ecosystems respond: Esri announced VBScript deprecation in ArcGIS in step with Microsoft, and has provided conversion guidance and a prioritized migration checklist for label expressions, symbology, field calculations and network evaluator logic. That guidance highlights practical migration targets: prefer Arcade for rendering and map expressions, Python for complex field calculations and evaluators, and SQL for database‑side transformations. Enterprises running ArcGIS ecosystems must treat this as a scheduled engineering program, not ad hoc scripting chore.Risk assessment — what organizations should worry about most
- Silent failure risk: If the FOD is disabled by default on newer images and the enterprise image is never updated to re‑enable it, scripts and automations will silently fail at runtime. That is particularly dangerous for overnight jobs, batch ETL, and scheduled reporting services.
- Compatibility divergence between Office builds: Different Office channel builds (Monthly/Current/Beta) may show different behavior for RegExp and other VBScript‑backed objects; mixed client populations create intermittent failures that are hard to troubleshoot. (learn.microsoft.com)
- Vendor lag and third‑party dependencies: Off‑the‑shelf packages that embed VBScript into their logic may not have timely updates, forcing either vendor engagement or replacement.
- Security tradeoffs: Continuing to rely on VBScript FODs delays modernization and leaves an avoidable runtime surface in place; enabling FODs as a stopgap is pragmatic but increases long‑term exposure to legacy attack patterns.
Recommended action checklist (quick reference)
- Inventory: Search for .vbs files, CreateObject("VBScript.*"), and references to the VBScript RegExp library across code repositories and images.
- Detect: Deploy Sysmon DLL load monitoring for vbscript.dll and collect telemetry centrally. (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
- Prioritize: Rank scripts by business criticality and exposure (automatic tasks, scheduled jobs, customer‑facing outputs).
- Mitigate: Enable VBScript FODs selectively for affected pilot groups while you migrate. Do not treat this as a permanent fix. (techcommunity.microsoft.com)
- Migrate: Replace .vbs with PowerShell where appropriate; for VBA RegExp, prefer early binding or migrate to a COM shim that uses .NET regex libraries.
- Test: Build unit tests, run staged rollouts, maintain rollback plans.
- Document: Record all former VBScript areas and the chosen migration paths for audit and future maintenance.
Final analysis — realism and timelines
Microsoft’s deprecation path is deliberate but not indefinite: Phase 2 (disabling FODs by default) is expected around 2026–2027, and vendors and large enterprises must treat that as the planning horizon for their validation work. The vagueness — Microsoft uses “approximately 2026 or 2027” — is inconvenient but still narrows the window considerably; planning as if the change could appear in 2026 is prudent. (techcommunity.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)The inclusion of RegExp‑related behavioral changes in Office Version 2508 is a signal that Microsoft and the Office team are aware of the dependency surface and are (at minimum) tinkering with how RegExp objects are provided to VBA. But the safest posture for enterprise teams is conservative: assume vbscript.dll can be absent on certain future images and plan migrations accordingly, rather than relying on a particular Office build to shield you indefinitely. Community reports and bug threads about Version 2508 demonstrate both the value and limits of short‑term mitigations; they are useful flags, not long‑term guarantees. (qiita.com, catalog.update.microsoft.com)
VBScript’s deprecation is a clear example of platform hygiene forcing modernization. The task ahead is largely operational: inventory, test, migrate, and validate. For every line of legacy glue code that’s converted to PowerShell, JavaScript (Office.js), Python, or a tidy COM/.NET service, an organization reduces future fragility and removes an avoidable maintenance burden. The clock is ticking toward a world where Windows no longer ships VBScript by default — treat this as a scheduled engineering project, not an aspirational IT backlog item.
Source: theregister.com Microsoft reminds developers VBScript really is going away