PowerShell Core 6.0 experiences

The new cross-platform PowerShell Core 6.0 reached general availability in January 2018, bringing PowerShell to Windows, Linux, and macOS. After a few months of use, it feels both familiar and refreshingly simpler.

Installation is quick, and recall that the starting command is now "pwsh". You can grab the latest version from GitHub or use your system's package manager:

# On Windows, grab the MSI in install
https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v6.0.0/PowerShell-6.0.0-win-x64.msi

# On Linux (such as Ubuntu)
sudo apt-get install powershell

When you start it, you'll notice the prompt PS C:\Users\your.name> instead of C:\>. Most scripts that don't rely on Windows-only modules run just fine.

Some quick notes based on my experience so far:

• Cross-platform remoting works, but Windows authentication is still limited to Windows hosts.
• The module ecosystem is smaller in Core; many management modules are still for Windows PowerShell only.
• Performance feels faster, and the startup time is noticeably improved.

If you keep your scripts portable and avoid heavy COM or WMI use, PowerShell Core 6.0 is already a capable daily shell. For mixed environments, it's a great step forward.

To learn what's different between Windows PowerShell and PowerShell core, see here.