Microsoft Brings PowerShell to Linux and OS X

The Satya Nadella Era at Microsoft keeps differentiating itself each year. First, there was the immediate release of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad; then Microsoft confessed it loves Linux. Earlier this year, the company announced it would acquire the assets of Xarmin; developers of tools for coding used to make apps for iOS and Android. SQL Server, the company’s popular database management system is also coming to Linux. Microsoft also announced it would open source the .NET Core, a key piece of technology which is the foundation for much of Microsoft’s development platforms.

The latest example of Microsoft’s openness is the PowerShell command line tool. The software firm announced it would bring the software to platforms such as OS X and Linux for the first time. PowerShell is a command-line and scripting tool used for system administration of Windows based network environments. PowerShell is deeply integrated throughout many of Microsoft’s server-based products such as Windows Server and Exchange Server. Microsoft came to the realization that many of its customers were running heterogeneous environments that contained a mix of Linux and Windows based systems. This gave Microsoft the impetus to bring its previously proprietary technology to the open source rival.

Microsoft wants to earn customers’ preference as the platform for running all their workloads – Linux as well as Windows. This new thinking empowered the .NET team to port .NET Core to Linux and that in turn, enabled PowerShell to port to Linux as well. PowerShell on Linux is now designed to enable customers to use the same tools, and the same people, to manage everything from anywhere. It is initially available on Ubuntu, Centos, as well as Red Hat, and also runs on Mac OS X. More platforms will be added in the future. You can download Alpha builds and check out the source code from GitHub.

Now, users across Windows and Linux, current and new PowerShell users, even application developers can experience a rich interactive scripting language as well as a heterogeneous automation and configuration management that works well with your existing tools. Your PowerShell skills are now even more marketable, and your Windows and Linux teams, who may have had to work separately, can now work together more easily. Source

With the release of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft took it one step further by integrating Windows Subsystem for Linux within the operating system. This provides developers and IT Professionals intimate access to powerful command line tools such as BASH. There is speculation about what Microsoft will bring next to Linux. The Ballmer/Gates years are behind us for sure; Microsoft is now participating in an era of co-opetition and customer driven innovation. This is certainly a win for the industry and Microsoft customers.