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by efreak 2199 days ago
HTA is still supported. So is WSH using either vbscript or jscript (unfortunately, powershell has replaced WSH for new functionally, rather than supporting both. Afaik there's no way to manage hyper-v or other newer features from WSH)
1 comments
WorldMaker 2199 days ago
Still supported? In zombie mode, at best.

WSH is considered a liability by so many admins these days and all the top search hits are on disabling it. I cannot imagine preferring WSH to PowerShell today; everything about PowerShell is a much better experience (including the simple fact that its security model is better and it is nothing near as much of a 0-day worm/virus vector.)

HTA only works with the classic IE Trident engine which is woefully out of date with web platform technologies in 2020. Anyone still working with HTA that hasn't been allowed to migrate to Electron (or PWA) has my sympathies. I do not envy whatever terrible political decisions have led to that.

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efreak 2199 days ago
HTA works perfectly fine as a launcher for legacy software. I wouldn't touch it for more complicated functionality, but a while back, I wrote an HTA splash screen/launcher for some old software that had been updated. At the time, the alternative was to either place the software on the startup menu, or to put desktop shortcuts (this software is intended to be used on a dedicated computer; it's not intended to be online or used otherwise). The HTA runs at login, displays the software name, the company's name and address, and allows opening a couple software packages and help documents with alt text. To me, this is a perfectly acceptable use of HTA, and at the same time, one of the worst possible uses I can imagine for Electron. HTA simplifies maintenance by a non-developer (edit paths and names in the source file depending on the to-be-installed software)

For more complicated automation and interaction, powershell is absolutely more powerful and useful than WSH. However, powershell takes at least 5 seconds to load (usually longer), the window can't be hidden, and it generally works in a different manner. I want to run software in the background. The software does not support it. I do not want to use scheduled tasks, I want to run it on demand (on boot, and from the desktop). I don't want my grandmother calling me up because a black window flashed on her screen, scrolled a bunch of text, then disappeared. I don't want Quassel Core's window bugging me when I'm using my desktop on the occasions I decide to run it. I've got a vbscript that looks for the currently enabled screensaver and launches it, so if it's been changed to a photo album or marquee, the appropriate one starts (the alternative being to make shortcuts to individual scr files).

Windows has no other built-in way to run some simple logic without running a visible command prompt that might confuse, annoy. To me, vbscript allows me to put a simple conditional in front of a shortcut, without perceptively taking longer to run said software and without requiring it to be visible. HTA allows a simple launcher/task chooser. Neither uses much resources.

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