The Microsoft Command Shell, once embarrassingly called “monad”, then “msh”. One of the many technologies originally slated for inclusion in (and subsequently removed from) the revolutionary “Longhorn” release of Windows, which is now the ho-hum, incredibly evolutionary release of Windows known as “Vista.”

PowerShell offers the .NET API up for inclusion in command lines and shell scripts. It is available from Microsoft for Windows XP (requires .NET and SP2), Windows Server 2003, and (eventually) Windows Vista, all as a free download. The forthcoming server version of Windows (currently known as “Longhorn Server”) should include it built-in.

As with much of Microsoft’s more professional, server-based projects, there is a wealth of high-quality documentation and sample code available from the PowerShell site and TechNet.

Resources

• Windows PowerShell
  The official home of PowerShell at microsoft.com
• Ars.Technica’s Walkthrough
  Ars does its usual bang-up job. Based on msh, an early release