And Windows Server 2003

Sep 11, 2009 14:39 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is pushing forward with the backporting of PowerShell 2.0 to Windows Vista and Windows XP, as well as older releases of Windows Server. PowerShell 2.0 is available as a default component of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. However, the company promised that IT professionals using PowerShell in their environments would also be able to leverage the enhancements introduced with version 2.0 on Windows releases preceding Windows 7.

Microsoft is not quite there yet, but it’s certainly working its way to that point. In this regard, the software giant has made yet another step in the right direction. As of September 10th, 2009, IT pros will be able to download and run the Release Candidate development milestone of PowerShell 2.0 for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. “Good things come to those who wait. Please download these bits and let us know if you have any problems with them. Just to be clear, this download contains the latest version of both PowerShell and WINRM,” revealed Jeffrey Snover [MSFT] Distinguished Engineer.

In addition to offering PowerShell 2.0 RTM in Windows 7 RTM, Microsoft has already made it possible for IT pros to grab the RC build for version 2.0. However, only the releases tailored to Windows Vista and Windows Sever 2008 were made available. This is no longer the case. Users with Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Windows XP SP3 can now grab Windows PowerShell 2.0 RC via Microsoft Connect.

“The release candidate for the Windows Management Framework is available. This is a collection of tools to help IT Professionals manage a mixed environment of Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP PCs and includes: Windows PowerShell 2.0; Windows Remote Management 2.0; Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS 4.0),”