The Microsoft Windows Script Host (originally called Windows Scripting Host, but renamed for the second release) is an automation technology for Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides scripting capabilities comparable to batch files, but with a greater range of supported features.
It is language-independent in the sense that it can make use of different Active Scripting language engines. By default it interprets and runs plain-text JScript (.JS and .JSE files) and VBScript (.VBS and .VBE files). Users can install different scripting engines to enable them to script in other languages, for instance PerlScript. The language independent filename extension WSF can also be used. The advantage of the Windows Script File (.WSF) is that it allows the user to use a combination of scripting languages within a single file.
Windows Script Host is distributed and installed by default on Windows 98 and later versions of Windows. It is also installed if Internet Explorer 5 (or a later version) is installed. Beginning with Windows 2000, the Windows Script Host became available for use with user login scripts.