[jnevill]

The world is full of simplified programming languages. The problem with newb adoption isn't just a function of ease-of-use, the simple programming language must also interact with a familiar UI. Why would I, as a newb, want to write in a simple programming language if it can't do something sufficiently complex, like create form UI, or change a web page, or interact with my OS to do something useful?

This is why VBA is so common. It's a simple scripting language that is exceedingly forgiving and interacts with a built in UI that most folks are already comfortable using. There is a "Macro Recorder" that writes the script for you if you wish. As you advance in your VBA skills you can interact with other VBA enabled applications on your machine and then graduate to shared libraries and com objects and interact with the OS. Furthemore, Microsoft Office applications come with a built in IDE (VBE), so you are ready to go, out of the box.