Windows 7: Features

By Patrick Nelson

Windows PowerShell, Microsoft’s Windows command-line shell and scripting language, has been improved in Windows 7 with the inclusion of PowerShell 2.0.

Over a hundred new cmdlets have been added.

Cmdlets are Microsoft’s simple command tools which allow IT to manage enterprise computers from the command line.

Remote management; a graphical interface; background jobs; debugging; modules; transactions; events; advanced functions, which now behave like cmdlets and are no longer written in C#; multiple language support; and help have all been improved, or added.

The new cmdlets include Get-Hotfix, Send-MailMessage, Get-ComputerRestorePoint, New-WebServiceProxy, Debug-Process, Add-Computer, Rename-Computer, Reset-ComputerMachinePassword, and Get-RandomGet-ComputerrestorePoint, Debug-Process, rename-Computer, Get-Hotfix amongst others.

Windows 7 PowerShell Remote Management has been added.

Users can connect to, and run PowerShell commands on all of their computers. IT can use it to run scripts, background jobs and make uniform changes to multiple computers.

Sessions can be established with one computer, or sessions can be established to get remote commands from multiple computers.

Windows PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) is a new graphical interface.

It allows running commands, write, edit, run, test, and debugging scripts in the same window. There’s also context-sensitive help.

Windows 7 PowerShell background jobs allows you to run commands asynchronously and in the background. This can occur on a local or remote computer.

Modules are new in Windows 7’s PowerShell. Modules can be used to distribute solutions throughout the enterprise--and also externally.

They are geared towards cmdlet and Provider authors--Providers are used for accessing data stores such as the registry and certificate store. Modules can include any type of file, including audio files, images and icons.

Modules run in a separate session to avoid naming conflicts.

Windows 7 has introduced Transactions for its PowerShell 2.0. Transactions let you manage a set of commands as one unit.

This lets you use PowerShell to make changes that might have to be rolled back--like changes to the registry.

Tools can be added to PowerShell 2.0 to let you manage other Windows technologies including Active Directory Domain Services, Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption, the DHCP Server service, Group Policy, Remote Desktop Services, and Windows Server Backup.

Windows 7 PowerShell is fully extensible.

You can write your own cmdlets, providers, functions and scripts. It’s built on the Microsoft .NET framework and can help IT control and automate administering Windows 7 and the applications that run on Windows 7.