Latest version of Powershell

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The latest version of PowerShell is 7.3.1. PowerShell 7.3.1 supersedes PowerShell version 7.3. The latest version of PowerShell was released on December 13, 2022. It can be downloaded from the GitHub page for PowerShell 7.3.1.

You can read more about how to upgrade to PowerShell 7.3.1 on this page.

PowerShell 7.2 series is the latest LTS series and is likely to be replaced with PowerShell 7.3 soon. We look at the key aspects of PowerShell and PowerShell for Windows. We also talk about the compatibility of PowerShell with Windows servers and other operating systems.

PowerShell 7.2 vs Windows Power Shell 5.1

There are a few important points that you would do well to recognize.

PowerShell is a standalone shell that is independent of the Windows PowerShell.

The current LTS version of PowerShell is 7.2. The version of last Windows PowerShell is 5.1.

PowerShell can be downloaded and installed as a binary package or an MSI package on the Windows Server, Linux machines and macOS. PowerShell comes with cross-platform support. It enhances PowerShell’s usability from Windows to Linux and macOS.

Windows PowerShell is a native Windows shell that can only work on Windows operating system. It is limited to functionality on Windows Servers and client machines.

PowerShell is based on the .NET core while the Windows PowerShell is based on the .NET Framework. .NET core allows PowerShell to be compatible with Linux and macOS. .NET core is a subset of the full-fledged .NET Framework.

PowerShell can be launched from your machine by using pwsh command. Windows PowerShell continues to work on the powershell command.

PowerShell and Windows PowerShell can co-exist on the same system. Most Windows computers would already have the Windows PowerShell. You can download PowerShell 7.2 as an MSI package or binary package from the Microsoft website.

PowerShell 7.2 is based on the .NET core version 6.0. The preview version of PowerShell 7.3 is based on the .NET core version 7.0.

PowerShell is backward compatible with PowerShell Windows. All commands that work on PowerShell Windows would automatically work on PowerShell 7.2. There are a few exceptions that include modules that are not supported on PowerShell. A few CMDlets have also been removed from PowerShell. Details of these omissions are available on the Microsoft page for full analysis.

PowerShell 7.2 is an in-place upgrade as it will replace the previous PowerShell 7 version installed on the system. If you wish to maintain another version of PowerShell alongside PowerShell 7.2, please use the ZIP archive download of that version to download and install on the system. The default installation folder for PowerShell 7.2 is $env:ProgramFiles\PowerShell\7. For the second install of PowerShell 7, you can install PowerShell in a folder that is different from the default folder.

How to install PowerShell 7.2 on your Windows computer?

PowerShell 7.2 can be installed on your Windows computer through one of the following ways:

PowerShell can be downloaded as an MSI package for Windows. PowerShell can be downloaded in a ZIP archive or as an MSI file for offline installation. The download links for x64 and x86 Windows installations are shared below for ready reference.

You can download PowerShell as a zip file. The download links for PowerShell zip files are as given below:

PowerShell 7.2.7 for x64 systems Windows – Download Zip Archive
PowerShell 7.2.7 for x86 systems Windows – Download Zip Archive
PowerShell 7.2.7 for x64 systems Windows – Download MSI File
PowerShell 7.2.7 for x86 systems Windows – Download MSI file

PowerShell can also be downloaded from the Microsoft app store. You can download PowerShell from this page on Microsoft store. However, Microsoft Store apps run inside an application sandbox. So, additional configuration would be needed to allow PowerShell to work on the system outside the application sandbox.

You can also install PowerShell using the winget command.
- winget install –id Microsoft.Powershell –source winget

Finally, you can install PowerShell as a .NET Global tool. This assumes that you already have the .NET Core SDK on the target machine. Here is the command to install PowerShell as a .NET Global tool.
- dotnet tool install –global PowerShell

PowerShell 7.2.5 can be installed on Linux and macOS as well. We will discuss these in separate documents for our study purpose.

PowerShell 7.2 compatibility with Windows Servers and Windows client operating systems

Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2016
Windows Server 2019
Windows Server 2022
Windows Server Core (2012 R2 or higher)
Windows Server Nano (1809 or higher)
Windows 8.1
Windows 10 version 1607 and higher
Windows 11

How can I find the current PowerShell version on my computer?

To check the current version of PowerShell that is installed on your system, you may use the following command from the PowerShell interface.

Launch PowerShell by typing pwsh in the search box. This will launch PowerShell.
In the PowerShell dialog box, type the command $PSversiontable.
The command output will list the current PowerShell version on the computer.
The command output from one such WIndows 10 based system is given below for ready reference:

How can I find the version of Windows PowerShell?

On a similar note, you can also find the Windows PowerShell version on your system.

Launch Windows PowerShell by typing the command powershell in the search box.
This will bring up a dialog box for Windows PowerShell.
Type the $PSVersionTable command on the PowerShell.
The command output will list the version of Windows PowerShell installed on your computer. One such command output from the Windows 10 based computer is given below for a ready reference.
The command output below suggests that we have Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7.2.5 on the same computer. The install folders are different for each of these PowerShell installations.

You may like to read practical guides about using Powershell on Windows computers below:

Rajesh Dhawan

Rajesh Dhawan is a technology professional who loves to blog about smart wearables, Cloud computing and Microsoft technologies. He loves to break complex problems into manageable chunks of meaningful information.