If you prefer using the Windows Command Line Interface (CLI) for your daily tasks, then the latest Windows PowerShell just might be for you. Microsoft has released PowerShell 7.3 Preview 7 which you can download and install on any Windows computer using the links and guidelines given below.
That said, since it is a preview version, it is only meant for testing so that the public is ready for any changes that may impact their work before the final version is released. Therefore we strongly recommend you do not install it in any live/production environment.
This update brings a plethora of new improvements and fixes to the command-line tool that can be used to run scripts, automate and perform administrative tasks.
Table of contents
Note: If you already have a stable version of Windows PowerShell running on your machine, installing the preview version will not affect it, and both could run simultaneously. However, if another preview version of PowerShell is installed, it will automatically be overwritten with the newer version.
Let us now discuss the fixes and improvements this release brings to PowerShell.
Changes and Improvements
We have highlighted the significant improvements and fixes in this preview release:
- [Breaking Changes]
- The type data definition of
System.Security.AccessControl.ObjectSecurity
has been moved to theMicrosoft.PowerShell.Security
module.
- The type data definition of
- [Engine Updates and Fixes]
- Searching for assemblies in
GAC_Arm64
on Windows has been enabled. - The parser exception using statements with empty aliases has been fixed.
- Do not always collapse space between parameter and value for native arguments.
- The
PSNativePSPathResolution
experimental feature has been removed.
- Searching for assemblies in
- [General Cmdlet Updates]
- Deserializing imported ordered dictionary has been fixed.
- The generated implicit remoting modules have been made backward compatible with PowerShell 5.1.
- IDE0031: Use Null propagation has been re-enabled.
- Allowed commands to still be executed even if the current working directory no longer exists.
Microsoft.PowerShell.Security
will no longer be referenced when the core snapin is used.- Support for HTTPS has been added with
Set-AuthenticodeSignature -TimeStampServer
. - Added type accelerator
ordered
forOrderedDictionary
. - The definition of the
PDH_COUNTER_INFO
struct has been fixed. - Added Virtualization Based Security feature names to “Get-ComputerInfo.”
FileSystemProvider
has been fixed to work with volume and pipe paths.- Removed pre-parse for array-based JSON.
- Improved type inference for
$_
- Prevented braces from being removed when completing variables.
- The type inference for
ICollection
has been fixed. - Fixed
Test-Json
not handling non-object types at root. - Changed
Get-ChildItem
to treat trailing slash in the path as indicating a directory when used with-Recurse
. - Added
find.exe
to legacy argument binding behavior for Windows. - Added completion for index expressions for dictionaries.
- Fixed enum-ranges for
ValidateRange
in proxy commands. - Fixed type completion for attribute tokens.
- Added
-noprofileloadtime
switch topwsh
. - Fixed legacy
ErrorView
types to use$host.PrivateData
colors. - Improved the dynamic parameter tab completion.
- Avoid binding positional parameters when completing parameters in front of a value.
- Rendered decimal numbers in a table using the current culture.
With these improvements, Microsoft currently has not disclosed any known issues. To learn more about these fixes and improvements, read the Release Notes.
Download PowerShell 7.3 Preview 7
You can download PowerShell 7.3 Preview 7 from the direct download links below.
For Windows 11, 10, 8.1, and 7
PowerShell-7.3.0 Preview 7 for Windows 64-bit.msi [82.8 MB]
PowerShell-7.3.0 Preview 7 for Windows 32-bit.msi [77.6 MB]
For MacOS
PowerShell-7.3.0 Preview 7 for MacOS 64-bit.pkg [44.6 MB]
PowerShell-7.3.0 Preview 7 for MacOS ARM64.pkg [43.0 MB]
For Linux
PowerShell-7.3.0 Preview 7 for RedHat Linux.rpm [44.9 MB]
PowerShell-7.3.0 Preview 7 for Debian.deb [45.2 MB]
For more download options, please check out this download page.
How to Install PowerShell 7.3 Preview 7
Here is how you can install Windows PowerShell 7.3 Preview 6 on Windows 11, 10, 8.1, and Windows 7:
-
Download and execute the respective MSI file from the links above.
-
The installation wizard will now run. Click Next on the first screen.
-
Now select the destination folder for the installation and click Next.
-
Select the optional features you want to install, such as adding PowerShell to environment variables, enabling PowerShell remoting, adding PowerShell to the context menu, etc. Click Next when selected.
-
Leave the default settings on the next page and click Next.
-
On the next screen, click Install to begin the installation.
-
Once installed, click Finish.
-
Now confirm that PowerShell has been installed successfully. Type in pwsh in the Run Command box and you shall see the installed version at the top.
Learn more about PowerShell and PowerShell Core. You can also download and install PowerShell over the network.
Final Thoughts
As we previously highlighted, this is a preview release of the command-line tool, which is why we suggest that you do not install it in a live environment. It is primarily targeted at the developers who need to test their applications beforehand so that when the stable version is released, their products are compatible with one another.