Vista - Is VbScript to be discontinued by Microsoft

We have vbs files that are being used in our batch files on Windows 2003
server.
Does any one know if microsoft has any intention of discontinueing VbScript
in future.
What is the best alternative to .vbs files?

"dinoo" <dinoo@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2250A25F-A298-4CF9-B8CF-61AABCEC49DF@xxxxxxThere have been rumors that Microsoft will stop supporting VBScript, but it
never happens. I personally don't expect it to happen for a long time, if
ever. The language is just too convenient. Personally, the alternative that
Microsoft seems to prefer, powershell, just has too many downsides. Many
VBScript programs will work without alternation on every 32-bit client since
Windows 95 (if you install DSClient on Win9x and NT clients), including
Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7. Powershell requires the .NET
framework. To me, powershell is a return to batch file syntax.

--
Richard Mueller
MVP Directory Services
Hilltop Lab - http://www.rlmueller.net
--

"Richard Mueller [MVP]" <rlmueller-nospam@xxxxxx> wrote in
message news:ekSjVQ0gJHA.500@xxxxxxThe best alternative to .vbs probably depends on the problem space you are
working in. Relatively simple logon scripts would probably be better
converted to batch than to powershell, while administrative functions would
likely be better in powershell. And of course, there is my personal
favourite alternative, .wsf files ;-)
That seems a safe bet. There was a time when vbscript was envisioned as a
potential replacement for batch itself, however, without an interactive
capability, that was little more than a pipe dream.

Now they have an opportunity to replace batch with powershell, which is a
much more compelling idea. But that won't happen either, even though
powershell could be considered a superset of batch.

One area where this won't happen is in the area of legacy windows o/s
versions, as powershell requires the dotnet runtime, meaning XP and up.
You'd think vbscript would win in this area because it runs on more windows
versions. Batch runs on all of them, however, each windows version has its
own batch version, to the extent that moderately sophisticated batch code is
rarely automatically portable between platforms.
My guess is that we will see a fourth scripting environment before that
happens that will be touted as better than powershell - however, that will
also fail to knock any of the contenders out of the ring, and we'll wind up
with four systems, each laying claim to part of the available problem space.
I agree, but...
An unfair statement if none of the upsides are mentioned. One upside is that
it can also be used interactively.
Ah, you mean that it inherits some of its functionality from something a bit
more advanced than cmd.exe...
Ah, you mean that it is no more sophisticated or advanced than cmd.exe...

A return to batch file syntax - yes, perhaps in some ways. But that is
partly by design. Would you rather it looked just like vbscript? If so, why
would it be needed? If not, what should a new language look like?

But the similarities between powershell and batch are there mainly to ease
the transition, and they tend to disappear as its use gets more
sophisticated. The syntax is significantly more structured and standardized
than that of batch, it supports object methodology, and is more natively
aware of the windows environment than vbscript.

I'm not trying to convince anyone that powershell is somehow inherently
better than vbscript - just that it is worthy of an objective examination.

/Al