I've inherited a PC and seem to have a bunch of different flavours of powershell. I just need one to do web development but am not sure what the difference between them is. Which should I keep/uninstall?
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1If I'd been given or bought a second hand computer, the very first thing I would do is wipe it & clean install. I wouldn't dream of doing anything else.– TetsujinJul 14, 2021 at 18:20
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Powershell is installed by default with windows. Just keep it.– Reddy LutonadioJul 14, 2021 at 18:21
1 Answer
Don't uninstall any of them.
The four "Windows PowerShell" entries are distributed as part of Windows 10. The two marked "ISE" provide a minimal script editor-plus-execution-console; the two marked "(x86)" are for a 32-bit environment instead of a 64-bit environment. Microsoft assumes that these PowerShells will be available for administrative tasks, and some of their utility GUIs simply use the GUI to build a PowerShell command and then use PowerShell to execute it. [ETA: These can't be uninstalled, anyway.]
The PowerShell 7 entry is for a newer version of PowerShell that is also cross-platform - that is, it is available for Mac and Linux as well as Windows - and supports new features that will not be retrofitted to the Windows PowerShell, and also supports a newer .NET than the Windows PowerShells.
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It's worth pointing out you can't uninstall anyone of them except the PowerShell 7 entry. PowerShell 5.1 is built-into Windows 10 and cannot actually be removed.– RamhoundJul 14, 2021 at 19:04
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@Ramhound - A valid point; I suppose I shouldn't assume that "distributed as part of Windows 10" implies "Can't be uninstalled". Jul 14, 2021 at 19:05
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Certainly, The Calculator UWP is distributed and installed by default, but can be removed (with some heartache).– RamhoundJul 14, 2021 at 19:15
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If this answer adequately addressed your concerns, please "Accept" it by clicking the check mark below the voting arrows. This marks the question as resolved, and incidentally throws me a little "rep" on the site. Jul 15, 2021 at 10:45