Customer Reviews

Windows PowerShell 2 For Dummies

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If you have Windows 7 then you have powershell version 2.0. This book is written for version 2.0 CTP3 which is a Community Technology Preview. Which means it is beta and now OLD.

The problem started on page 29 listing commands in version 2.0 CTP3 that do not exist in the production version that comes with Windows 7. The commands arnt' slightly different they are wildly different.

[...] doesn't list any corrections so don't bother with this book.

Windows PowerShell has been slows to catch on in the Windows community. There are good reasons for this. Scripting is of interest to a relatively limited community of network administrators and a few others who want total control of the computing environment. A number of other adequate tools, including Microsoft VBScript, WHS and third-party tools existed that handled daily problems quite nicely. PowerShell relies upon .NET and a lot of people still aren't entirely trustful of that environment.

Slowly but surely, PowerShell is developing a following and Release 2 should accelerate that trend.

Author Steve Seguis does an excellent job of backgrounding PowerShell, freeing admitting its Unix/Linux heritage where incredibly rich and powerful scripting tools are available and providing an overview of PowerShell's place within the Windows universe.

Getting down to brass tacks, Seguis walks the reader through using PowerShell in a clear, direct manner. Lots of examples of how to accomplish relatively simple and, more importantly, familiar administration tasks with PowerShell 2. Using familiar tasks is important since it makes PowerShell, which is radically different than most other Windows scripting vehicles, easier to comprehend. However, doing this means it is up to the user to expand their use of PowerShell in different ways, a small price to pay I guess for a relatively painless learning experience.

Overall, this is good little book. Anyone familiar with scripting languages and Windows system administration will have little difficulty learning PowerShell 2 with its help.

Jerry

book name = ps2 for dummies but do not overlook this book. i found it very helpful because for someone pressed for time, this book got me up to speed on powershell and ready for the more advanced books about the subject. thanks.

This book is an OK introduction to Powershell. A good way to learn Powershell is too look at the Microsoft Website. There are many tutorials there.

I also found several other websites that have great tutorials that are easy to follow.

Windows PowerShell2 for Dummies is an excellent resource for beginning to learn Powershell scripting. I have been learning PowerShell off the web for about 1 year but this book helped me to focus and 'fill in the gaps' of my knowledge. I greatly appreciate Steve's ability to summarize the language and provide a compreshensive overview and lots of details!