Greetings.
As a normal PC-geek I don't know how, when and why I should use Powershell instead of cmd. Or in another way, why has Microsoft changed cmd to Powershell in the right-click menu? What are the benefits?
Or has Microsoft just done this to make fun of us, that don't know all the commands to Powershell ?
I have found (and used) Brinks good guide to make the cmd rearrive at the menu instead of Powershell, but what am I missing by not learning Powershell???
MS just wants more people to use it, thus it has brought it to the foreground.
I always remove it, since mostly only malware uses it, especially ransomware.
Powershell is a great tool for system admins, since it allows to do more and faster.
I find PS has this lag to it on startup. The Windows pops up almost immediately, but there is a delay as to when you can start typing anything. Witnessed it on multiple PCs. I hate it for that reason alone.
If you don't know why you would use powershell vs cmd, then you probably only need cmd. However, there may be times (especially if you're following a tutorial on here) where they will give you commands that are powershell commands.
There are many subsystems in Windows that have Powershell interfaces for command scripting. So you have to issue commands from Powershell for these.
As an aside, you can enter most cmd commands in powershell and they'll work just fine. For a lot of people you can use them interchangeably.
Powershell is tremendously more powerful and complex. It requires a steep learning curve especially if you are not familiar with an object oriented programming language. There are some things in CMD prompt that do not work in Powershell. If you are using fairly basic commands and batch files, CMD will do although it can do some fairly complicated stuff as well. The biggest problem I have found with Powershell is finding appropriate documentation for it although there are thousands of examples on the net to which you can refer.
JohnD
You can run the same commands in powershell as you can in cmd, but you can also run a ton more powershell commands.
I think MS changed it because
1). More people are using powershell
2). MS is encouraging those who don't use PS, to start using it.
Quote