I’ve always thought Windows guys should put more time into learning scripting. That’s always been one of the big advantages of UNIX–the platform has had an incredible scripting infrastructure, and UNIX admins always knew how to create scripts to automate their work.

Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and especially Windows Vista have greatly improved scripting. Now, you can do almost anything from the command-line or a script. Windows PowerShell takes those capabilities to the next level. If you’re in IT, I highly recommend reading up on it–you’ll save yourself time in the long run. If you have development or scripting experience, it’ll be that much easier to learn. If you don’t, it’s still very much worth your time.

Download the 32-bit version here, and the 64-bit version here. Also, check out the Windows PowerShell blog.