Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches

Chapter 1. Before you begin

I’ve been teaching Windows PowerShell since version 1 was released in 2006. Back then, most of the folks using the shell were pretty experienced VBScript users, and they were eager to apply their VBScript skills to learning PowerShell. As a result, I and the other folks who taught the shell, wrote books and articles, and so forth, all adopted a teaching style that more or less leveraged prior programming or scripting skills.

Since late 2009, however, a shift has occurred. More and more administrators who didn’t have prior VBScript experience started trying to learn the shell. All of a sudden, my old teaching patterns didn’t work very well, because I was focused on scripting and programming. That’s when I realized ...