I’d say VB.NET is the PHP of the Windows ecosystem. It’s not as elegant as the language Microsoft likes to push (C#), and it doesn’t seem to have many resources devoted to its evolution.

As such, it matters less whether it is a good, expressive, easy to use language than that there are so many other better options.

Now… it’s not easy to get many languages running on Windows. While on Unix you get Python for free in a base install (with some rare exceptions), Windows require some extra steps novices may have trouble with.