Windows PowerShell: First, Monad; Next, Aspen

Microsoft’s PowerShell command-line scripting shell is moving forward.

On September 26, Microsoft posted for download the Release Candidate (RC) 2 bits of the first version of the technology, code-named “Monad.” Monad is expected to debut in final form, initially, as a built-in component of Exchange Server 2007, which is due late this year or early next. And the next version of Microsoft Operations Manager, which is known these days as "Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007," also is slated to take advantage of PowerShell for administration purposes.

For developers interested in PowerShell and the closely affiliated Microsoft Management Console (MMC) technology, Microsoft is holding a two-day PowerShell conference --  the Windows PowerShell & Microsoft Management Console (MMC) ISV Workshop (Building Next Generation Command Line and GUI Applications on Windows) -- on the Redmond campus in early October. In November, at TechEd Barcelona in mid-November, Microsoft officials are slated to share more details on PowerShell and MMC.

There’s already a next version of PowerShell/MMC in the works that is code-named “Aspen.”