Python vs. VBScript vs. JavaScript in context of Windows Scripting Host?

[John Benson]

Hi, I'm in a tightly-secured environment where I may not be allowed to use
Python for some scripting work, and may have to fall back on what came with
Windows 2K.

I'm cracking "VBScript in a Nutshell" from O'Reilly, and have found a number
of disappointments:

* can't find "Introspection" in the Index
* no record types, just numerically-indexed arrays, so record handling is
kludgy
* zero-based array indexing (this is Basic?)
* script debugger is slanted towards debugging VBScript inside Internet
Explorer
* "on error resume next" pretty much sums up the error handling
* truly bizarre use of parentheses to override argument passing by reference
in a completely nonobvious context

It looks pretty weak compared to Python, but I may not have the luxury of
Python in this situation.

Here's the question: If JavaScript is available to me within the Windows
Scripting Host, can it do everything that VBScript can? My JavaScript
documentation (the O'Reilly rhino book) is "client-side scripting"-centric,
and as such accepts the limitations on file manipulation imposed by the
client-side security scruples. Can anyone recommend a reference on
JavaScript as an expedient replacement for Python within the context of the
Windows Scripting Host?

I know this isn't the real concern of this forum, but I know there are a lot
of experienced generalists out there whose experience I would like to tap.
Thanks in advance for any responses.