With the announcement of VBS moving to a Feature On Demand and eventual removal what does this do to ASP?

Lisa Lombardo 15

With the recent announcement of eventual removal of VB Script support, what does that do for ASP pages that have VBS inside the ASP page? Will IIS still have the ASP engine?

Is this announcement only for Windows operating system processing of VBS files or does it mean all code even in ASP pages?

3 answers

Lex Li (Microsoft) 5,157 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-10-17T00:11:03.9433333+00:00

So far, VBScript has just been marked as "being deprecated" and scope is set to "Windows client" (aka Windows 10/11 right now),

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/deprecated-features

I think the classic ASP component on Windows Server isn't in the scope. But if you represent a corporate and would like a confirmation, you can open a support case via https://support.microsoft.com to get more details and suggestions around your classic ASP apps.

Update on June 18, 2024: Windows Server 2025 Preview (Version 24H2, OS build 26100.1) continues to support classic ASP and the steps to install are no different from previous Windows Server releases like 2022. If Windows Server 2025 final release goes the same way, then classic ASP is going to be supported at least for another decade by Microsoft till 2034/2035.
Please sign in to rate this answer.

1 person found this answer helpful.
Lisa Lombardo 15 Reputation points

2023-10-17T13:47:07.9333333+00:00

I started down the avenue of opening a support case but the options presented to me let me to one Microsoft forum that directed me to this forum.

So the deprecation is for Windows client and not Windows server operating systems, is that a correct conclusion from what you wrote?

The link you provided for deprecated features has this text on it: "VBScript is being deprecated. In future releases of Windows," It broadly states Windows and not just Windows client or Windows server OSes.

How do I get this clarified?

Alexis 5 Reputation points

2023-12-20T16:34:37.21+00:00

I would also like clarification. We are planning the rewrite of some legacy Classic ASP customizations in our SaaS, and it is looking like a multi-year project. If we knew how much time we had, we could plan our resourcing more effectively. It would also help us build a case for recouping our rewrite costs from the clients who initiated the customizations.

Lex Li (Microsoft) 5,157 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-12-21T04:31:49.66+00:00

@Lisa Lombardo You might use the phone numbers for Business users to get assistance, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/global-customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2

Pieter Cooreman 5 Reputation points

2024-04-12T11:43:49.83+00:00

Is there any update on this? Will the tandem Classic ASP/VBScript be affected by VBScript's deprecation and/or removal?

Pieter Cooreman 5 Reputation points

2024-04-16T08:54:36.0466667+00:00

If VBScript is not installed anymore, Classic ASP/VBScript stops working! I asked this same questions on a user forum. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-iis/will-all-classic-asp-apps-stop-working-now-that-vbscript-is/m-p/4111908/highlight/false#M218

So it appears that MicroSoft will force millions of websites built on Classic ASP/VBScript to be redeveloped in another technology. While that can be easy for smaller sites, some larger web applications developed in Classic ASP/VBScript are in trouble!

Lisa Lombardo 15 Reputation points

2024-04-19T12:24:29.1033333+00:00

Does VBS deprecated from Windows client, also mean deprecated from Windows server operating systems for the Active Script engine?

Alex F 0 Reputation points

2024-06-19T00:01:26.6033333+00:00

@Lisa Lombardo The statement that "classic ASP is supported with every version of Windows" is an excerpt of Microsoft support pages, but is unfortunately not true anymore : With the announced deprecation of VBScript, first tests conducted on Windows Server 2025 Preview show that Classic ASP does not work anymore.

This situation is not acceptable as it will break millions of web/intra/extra net webapps that are used worldwide by many industries.

We definitely should see Microsoft reconsidering their position, and ensure us that the Server-Side VBScript engine behind Classic ASP will remain functional, forever.

Lex Li (Microsoft) 5,157 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-06-19T02:55:29.83+00:00

@Lisa Lombardo Windows Server 2025 Preview continues to support classic ASP on IIS (I updated my answer to include the build number).

You can neglect the previous comment from another user and I don't know from where that "Classic ASP does not work anymore" came from.

Alex F 0 Reputation points

2024-06-19T23:38:07.3133333+00:00

It comes from tests conducted with the "VBScript" FOD disabled.
Sign in to comment
Bruce (SqlWork.com) 59,721 Reputation points

2024-04-18T22:57:36.2666667+00:00

active server pages has been deprecated since IIS 6.0. It is an optional component of IIS, so is supported by IIS, which in turn, is an operating system component supported by the O/S lifetime. IIS 10, the lastest version of IIS, has asp as an optional component. So asp support is tied IIS 10 support. Currently windows 2022 supports IIS 10. this gives IIS 10 support until 2031.

any future version of IIS can drop support of asp. So the lifetime of asp support will be the life of the last O/S to supports a version of IIS that supports asp.
Please sign in to rate this answer.
Pieter Cooreman 5 Reputation points

2024-04-19T05:50:02.7833333+00:00

hi Bruce, thanks for your clarification.

ASP, ASP.NET, CGI-support and ISAPI filtering as such, they're all optional components in IIS. Do not mix up being optional with being deprecated. Classic ASP is not officially deprecated by MicroSoft. There are a lot of fake and opinionated articles about this matter by trolls, but none of them (officially) confirmed by MicroSoft.

VBScript now is officially deprecated and it is planned to be completely removed from Windows OS. There is no exact date for that removal yet.

It's true that the EOL of IIS follows the EOL policy of its O/S, which is 10 years. Windows 2025 will most likely ship with everything a Classic ASP/VBScript application possibly needs. Therefore Classic ASP/VBScript will be "hostable" in optimal conditions somewhere up to 2035. After that date, things might get tricky, but impossible to predict.

Meanwhile I have been able to find out that removing VBScript from Windows O/S, also removes it for use in IIS. It's good to know I guess. The days of the Classic ASP/VBScript-tandem are numbered.
Sign in to comment
Alex F 0 Reputation points

2024-06-18T23:52:00.85+00:00

The Problem: tons of mission-critical corporate intra/extranet and government agencies webapps cannot be rewritten.

Classic ASP must absolutely remain functional, or the consequences in REAL LIFE will be numerous.

There's a petition to be signed by all of the people still needing Classic ASP : https://chng.it/dLrrYsYbCL
Please sign in to rate this answer.

0 comments No comments
Sign in to comment

Share via

With the announcement of VBS moving to a Feature On Demand and eventual removal what does this do to ASP?

3 answers