Bob On Development

If you need to do non-trivial scripting under Windows 2003 Server or Windows XP, you should probably take the time to install and learn Windows PowerShell 1.0. In addition, if you need to learn WMI this is a great way to get acquainted with it. Indeed, PowerShell may often be a better place to interface with WMI than from within standard .NET applications.

The one-sentence skinny: PowerShell is a .NET 2.0 command line application where all input and output takes the form of objects. Think about the implications of this for about two minutes and some light bulbs should go on. This is insanely great stuff, and it’s reassuring in light of some of the recent train wrecks to come out of Microsoft (e.g., Vista) that they can still produce great, innovative and useful tools like this.