PowerGUI is a free tool that allows you to create PowerShell scripts with a graphical user interface (GUI). It also comes with a nice PowerShell script editor that supports debugging. Version 1 has been available for some days already.

The main idea behind PowerGUI is to create PowerShell code by selecting objects, and performing actions on them. For instance, you can select Active Directory objects or Exchange objects manually or by using filters. Then you tell PowerGUI that you want to move these objects to a new location and it will create the corresponding PowerShell script which you can enhance with your own code.

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Aaron has a nice post about the command line interface of Server Manager in Windows Server 2008. I have been blogging about the graphical interface of Server Manager a while back. I somehow forgot to mention that Server Manager has a command line version. So I am taking this chance to make up for my omission, although the main intent of this post is to express my view about the value of these new command line capabilities of Vista and Server 2008 in general.

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Submitted by Darren Mar-Elia – Blog: The GPOGuy Group Policy Blog The GPMC PowerShell cmdlets are a set of free cmdlets that wrap the functionality of Microsoft’s Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). The cmdlets provides functionality to PowerShell such as creating and deleting GPOs, linking and unlinking GPOs and modifying GPO permissions, to name just a few.

GPMC PowerShell Cmdlets

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Group Policy and PowerShell are both very powerful tools to automate IT management tasks. Specops Command combines both technologies giving you an even more powerful scripting solution.

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Yesterday, I blogged about my favorite four new PowerShell 2.0 features. The one I like most is Graphical PowerShell. Maybe “IDE” (Integrated Development Environment) is an exaggeration. Graphical PowerShell is still a very simple tool. But, I think, it is a good start, and I hope that Microsoft will keep on adding new features. In this post, you’ll find some screenshots and a short description of Graphical PowerShell.

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You can download Windows PowerShell 2.0 CTP (Community Technology Preview) now. I just skimmed over the release notes. The number of new features is quite impressive.

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With Vista’s UAC (User Account Control) enabled, you need an elevated command shell if you have to run commands with administrator privileges from the command line. This post explains how you can alter the Windows Explorer context menu to open an elevated command prompt in a certain directory using Microsoft’s Script Elevation PowerToys for Windows Vista. The elevate.cmd that comes with the PowerToys allows you to launch commands and scripts with administrative rights from a non-elevated command prompt. You can also use them to elevate other file types such as MSI or MSP easily.

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Some time ago I recommended focusing on PowerShell in the future when it comes to scripting. Jeffrey Snover from Microsoft also suggests making this move. He has a couple of hints to help you convert your VBScript scripts to PowerShell.

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Microsoft released some new reference guides: Group Policy ADMX Syntax Reference Guide, Windows PowerShell Quick Reference, Windows PowerShell Graphical Help File, VBScript Quick Reference. What I find interesting is that that Microsoft released these guides on the same day. Perhaps, this is just a mere coincidence. But maybe someone at Microsoft wants to remind us that there are quite a few technologies available to automate Windows management.

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I hope that I didn’t put off too many of my readers with my somewhat negative post about Windows PowerShell yesterday. It is not that I dislike PowerShell, it is just that I can’t imagine using it often as a shell. But, this is certainly a matter of taste. Jeffrey Snover replied to my post in the Microsoft Windows PowerShell team blog putting forward an important argument for using PowerShell as a shell.

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Actually, you could also say, it is an introduction into Windows Powershell from Microsoft. When I skimmed over the document, I came once again to the conclusion that Powershell is not really a shell, but just another scripting language.

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Windows PowerShell is finally available for Vista, too. Download and installation took me only a minute or so. It is interesting to note, that WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) already checks Windows before the download. If you download it with Firefox, you have to install a plugin first.

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You can now download Microsoft’s new command line shell and scripting language. If you don’t run an English Windows version, make sure that you also get the Multilingual User Interface Package. It is interesting to note that there is not yet a version for Windows Vista. You can download Windows Powershell 1.0 RC2, but it is only for Vista RC1. There seems to be a big interest in Powershell, judging from the number of comments in the relatively new Powershell blog. However, I think, most Windows administrators will need some time to make friends with the idea of going back to the command line, like in the good old times of MS DOS. Okay, Powershell is a bit more powerful.

PowerShell originally was planned as a part of Windows Vista. Now, it seems it might be available even before Vista since RC2 is already available. I’ve read many marvellous things about Microsoft’s new command line shell. Some say that even Unix admins will get envious. This remains to be seen, though.

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