Since I work on the PowerShell team, I’ve been lucky enough to get a couple of years jump start on producing PowerShell V2 scripts and modules.  With every new script I write in V2 I get more and more amazed by the possibilities in PowerShell.  I’ve discovered how to do many cool things that, as some of my colleagues outside of the PowerShell team have put it, have showed them the Power of PowerShell.

At each CTP of PowerShell, I’ve tried to share this power of PowerShell here on this blog.  Thanks to Mitch Tulloch (the main author of the Windows 7 Resource Kit) and Ed Wilson (the Scripting Guy), I was able to collect some of my V2 modules for the companion CD of the resource kit.  This collection of scripts became know as the Windows 7 Resource Kit PowerShell Pack.

Today, the Windows 7 Resource Kit should be available in stores, and the PowerShell Pack is available for download on code gallery.

The PowerShell Pack contains over 800 scripts in 10 different modules.  Here’s a brief overview:

WPK
Create rich user interfaces quick and easily from Windows PowerShell. Think HTA, but easy. Over 600 scripts to help you build quick user interfaces.  To get started learning how to write rich WPF UIs in script, check out Writing User Interfaces with WPK.

IsePack
Supercharge your scripting in the Integrated Scripting Environment with over 35 shortcuts.

TaskScheduler
List scheduled tasks, create or delete tasks

FileSystem
Monitor files and folders, check for duplicate files, and check disk space

DotNet
Explore loaded types, find commands that can work with a type, and explore how you can use PowerShell, DotNet and COM together

PSImageTools
Convert, rotate, scale, and crop images and get image metadata

PSRSS
Harness the FeedStore from PowerShell

PSSystemTools
Get Operating System or Hardware Information

PSUserTools
Get the users on a system, check for elevation, and start-processaadministrator

PSCodeGen
Generates PowerShell scripts, C# code, and P/Invoke

I’ll be posting a lot more about these modules in the next weeks, both here and on Channel9, but you can start exploring the modules now by checking out the PowerShellPack on code gallery.  I will also be tweeting some cool tidbits about the PowerShell Pack under the tags: #PowerShellPack, #WPK and #IsePack

I’ll also be on Hal Rotenberg’s PowerScripting Podcast tonight talking about the PowerShell Pack.

Hope this helps,

James Brundage [MSFT]

Quick Note: The MSI was updated at ~ 4:30pm on day of release. If you downloaded it before this time, please download the MSI again.