In this post, we are going to know the difference between Windows Powershell and Command Prompt. Each one of them has its specific usage, Let's see some of the major differences between them.
What is Command Prompt?
cmd.exe or more popularly known as Cmd or Command Prompt is the command-line interpreter for the Microsoft Windows Operating System. It interacts with the user through a command-line interface. It can be termed as a windows program, used to issue commands to the system. It was originally the shell for MS-DOS operating system and first released as CLI for the Windows NT family, developed by Therese Stowell in the year 1981.
What is Powershell?
Powershell is like a more advanced version of Cmd, consisting of a command-line shell and scripting language. It is like a task automation and configuration management framework. It is built on the top of .NET CLR ( Common Language Runtime). Initially, it was only a Windows component and made open-source and cross-platform on 18 August 2016. The administrative tasks are performed by cmdlets, which are specialized .NET classes.
Features of Cmd
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Quick edit mode allows the user to select text in cmd.
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Enabling Ctrl key shortcuts, allows the user to use useful key combinations like Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, etc.
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When copying clipboard contents, it will automatically filter the unsupported characters either by converting or stripping them out.
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Enabling line wrapping, allows the user to select and copy lines of text from Cmd to another application.
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Enabling extended text selection, a new lot of common shortcut keystrokes become available.
Features of Powershell
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Scripts and cmdlets can be invoked on a remote system.
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We can run the processes either on the local system or multiple remotely operated systems.
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The transactions feature is also supported by Powershell.
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An interesting command is Evening, which helps the user to listen, forward or act on the management and system events.
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It supports the prioritized and asynchronous, transfer of files between systems using the BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service technology).
Applications of Cmd
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Cmd can be used for fixing file associations, using the ASSOC command.
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It can be used to compare different types of files, using the FC command.
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It can be used for troubleshooting the network configuration, using the IPCONFIG.
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Worried about unknown malware connecting to the internet without your information, use the NETSTAT command.
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Also, the most useful command for a network analyst, the PING command.
Applications of Powershell
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To automate time-consuming tasks.
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To delete a partition of your Windows system.
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To find the MAC address of any of the network cards.
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To uninstall Windows 10 applications.
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Powershell allows the user to install libraries and modules effortlessly.
Major Differences:
| Command Prompt |
Powershell |
| It is the default command-line interpreter for the Windows Operating System. |
It is the automated task-based command-line interface and scripting environment based on the .Net framework. |
| It is mostly string-based, an older batch language with a standard set of functions. |
It uses much more powerful functions called cmdlets. |
| It can interpret only batch commands. |
It can interpret both batch and Powershell commands. |
| It is used to execute given commands, used to debug problems, |
It can be used to control and automate Windows applications and systems on the server. |
| The output generated by Cmd is just a stream of characters |
The output generated by Powershell is not just a stream of text, but a collection of objects. |
Why use Cmd?
We can use Cmd for scripting repetitive actions, and chaining commands. Some of the commonly used commands of Cmd are:
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cd: To change the path or directory in which you are currently working.
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dir: To see all the available files and folders within the selected directory.
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ipconfig: To display the current network information.
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ping: To troubleshoot or resolve network issues.
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help: Provides information about all other commands.
Why use Powershell?
You should be using Powershell if,
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You have tasks that you want to run automatically to manage operating systems and their processes.
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You have a lot of processes that need to run at specific times under certain conditions and you don't want to wait for each process to finish to start the next.
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You want to keep consistency in your processes.
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Add and delete accounts, edit groups, and create listings to view specific types of users or groups.
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Develop scripts as command collections, wherein you add the logic needed for their execution.
Summary
Summary of the difference between cmd and PowerShell:
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Powershell was introduced in the year 2006, Cmd was introduced in 1981.
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Cmd doesn't support the creation of aliases for commands, Powershell provides the ability to create aliases for cmdlets and scripts.
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Cmd's output can't be passed on to other commands, whereas the output from the cmdlet can be passed to other cmdlets.
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The command must be finished before the next command is run in Cmd, Powershell can execute a sequence of cmdlets put together in scripts.
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Cmd has only a command line, no separate ISE ( Integrated Scripting Environment), Powershell has it.
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Cmd has no such access to libraries, Powershell built on the .NET framework has access to programming libraries.
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Cmd needs an external plugin for WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) integration, Powershell can directly integrate with WMI.
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Cmd doesn't support Linux Systems, Powershell supports it.
