VBScript is Deprecated - What you need to Know

Microsoft announced in October 2023 that they are deprecating VBScript.  For some organizations this may come across as concerning, but it will be a slow process and ultimately VBScript will likely never stop working entirely.  A detailed explanation can be found from Microsoft themselves, but here are the key takeaways:

1. Deprecation does not mean it will stop working.  This may be obvious, but VBScript is not going away any time soon and will continue to work for the foreseeable future.  To quote Microsoft:
   "Deprecation is a stage in the product lifecycle when a feature or functionality is no longer in active development and may be removed in future releases of a product or online service. It's a gradual process that can span a few months or years. The deprecated feature is usually meant to be replaced by something better, more advanced, or more functional. The feature will typically continue to work and is fully supported until it's officially removed. After removal, the feature or capability will no longer work. Removing a deprecated component helps reduce complexity while keeping you secure and productive."
2. Starting sometime in 2027 (Microsoft's estimate), VBScript will be disabled by default on new Windows installs but can be enabled if needed
3. Finally VBScript will be removed from Windows i.e. it will stop working on new installs of Windows.  There is not yet any estimation of when this will occur.  I'd be surprised if it was this decade.  Once this has happened, software that is dependent on VBScript will have to run on an older version of Windows.

If your business relies on VBScript in any way, do you need to worry about this?  Well eventually yes, you do, but there is plenty of time to plan that transition. 

And that leads into my next point: what does this mean for M-Files?  Most customization in M-Files, including Vault Application Framework (VAF), is facilitated via VBScript.  Any custom scripts will need to be refactored, there's no getting around that.  But the VAF reliance will likely be solved without the need for any action by partners (TEAM IM) nor end customers.  There's no technical requirement for VAF to interface with M-Files server via VBScript proxy, it was just the way it was done initially and if it ain't broke, why fix it?  Well now there is a good reason to fix it and I'm confident that M-Files will do so.

If you have a heavy reliance on VBScript and need help with how to move forward, reach out to TEAM IM, we're happy to help.