You'd be surprised how much you can accomplish with batch files in Windows NT variants. I've done a lot of work in this area.

Batch files in Windows don't really compare to proper scripting in Unix-based operating systems, they are a poor substitute. However you can often get a lot done with them.

Another option is to use a scripting engine like WinBatch, but long ago I came to the realization that as soon as I needed to move to something as big as WinBatch, I might as well just code up something in Visual Basic and be done with it.

If you could be more specific about what you're trying to get done, perhaps I could give pointers. Make sure to include details of which platforms it needs to run on. Because often the behavior of a given batch file will be different between NT and 98.