Windows 10: PowerShell Core 6.0 is now available...

If you are a Windows PowerShell scripter, then you might be excited about Microsoft announcing the release of PowerShell Core 6.0.  For the first time in the scripting language’s ten-year history, it is now cross-platform (meaning the same script can run on Windows, MacOS, and Linux) and its open-source (so it is freely available to download or modify).

If you are a PowerShell scripter, this opens up new opportunities for managing heterogeneous environments (meaning multiple different types of OSs) with a single scripting language.
PowerShell is not the first or only open source cross-platform scripting environment that is currently available.  Python is a very mature scripting language that has a huge following right now.

Windows PowerShell vs. PowerShell Core

Here is the interesting news.  There are now two versions of PowerShell; there is the Windows and the Core version.  Windows PowerShell, which is the current version of PowerShell that is shipping with the OS today, is now being dropped in favor of PowerShell Core.

What this means is now that PowerShell Core 6.0 has been released, Microsoft will not be developing any new releases of Windows PowerShell.  All new development in the language will be done under PowerShell Core.

Downloading and Installing PowerShell Core

To download and install PowerShell Core, just select the link next to the OS you are using and follow the instructions on the page to install the software.

• Windows: https://aka.ms/getps6-windows
• MacOS: https://aka.ms/getps6-linux
• Linux: https://aka.ms/getps6-linux