PowerGUI turns 3

It’s Birthday for PowerGUI and AD cmdlets! 3 years ago on March 28, 2007 we launched betas for what later became the most popular and influential tools in the PowerShell community.

Back in early 2007 it was not that obvious that PowerShell, PowerGUI and AD cmdlets would pick up so quickly. Now it retrospect this all all looks obvious and one of the best business decisions we have ever made.

• PowerShell is now everywhere: from SharePoint to VMware.
• PowerGUI has been downloaded over 700,000 times and has grown to have admin console with dozens of great PowerPacks for almost any system you can think of, great script editor and debugger, and MobileShell PowerShell command line in the browser,
• AD cmdlets (or QAD cmdlets) are pervasive and changed (for the better ) the way many thousands AD administrators work every day,
• PowerGUI.org forums are by far the most popular PowerShell community out there on the internet today with many posts and active discussion threads every day.

And there is even more ahead! By the time we turn 4 we will get a lot of very exciting new functionality which I just can’t wait to share with all of you!

Here’s a quote from the original press release:

Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) today announced the next steps in its commitment to support Microsoft Windows PowerShell and the next version of Windows Server, code-named “Longhorn.” Quest has created a graphical user interface for Windows PowerShell, PowerGUI; built PowerShell commands (Cmdlets) for Active Directory; and is sponsoring a new independent online community dedicated to Windows PowerShell, PowerGUI.org. These efforts help users make the most of Microsoft’s next-generation command-line and scripting environment.

“IT professionals are eager to learn more about Windows PowerShell, and with Quest’s extensive background in Active Directory it just seemed right for us to help,” said Jackson Shaw, senior director, Active Directory Solutions, Quest Software. “We’re taking steps to help organizations better understand and use Windows PowerShell to manage their IT environments. We’re very pleased to offer the new interface, free community and commands.”

The new interface, PowerGUI, offers IT professionals an easy-to-use view that reduces the learning curve for Windows PowerShell. This intuitive and familiar user interface unleashes the capabilities of Windows PowerShell without requiring IT professionals to learn the new command-line syntax. PowerGUI is available for download at no charge from the new PowerGUI.org community.

The PowerGUI.org community allows Windows PowerShell users to share their knowledge, and find and share Windows PowerShell scripts. Membership is free and includes a discussion community, FAQs and the opportunity to download the new PowerGUI interface.

“Quest has taken a leadership position by offering these new solutions for Windows PowerShell,” said Bob Visse, senior director of Windows Server Marketing at Microsoft Corp. “Quest is one of Microsoft’s top ISV partners because it consistently provides customers a technology- and community-focused approach to using and managing Microsoft software.”

Happy Birthday, PowerGUI and AD cmdlets!!!

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