Microsoft has completely removed Powershell 2.0 from Windows 11’s preview build, and the change will roll out for all “in the upcoming updates”. Most people probably will not notice the removal, but it is rare to see changes like these in the Windows operating system.
Powershell is the primary command line shell for Windows, designed to address the limits of the command prompt that has been around the MS-doses. Powershell 2.0 was released in 2009, and even if it was successful by several major updates, some scripts and applications still require 2.0 shells to function correctly. Low security sanctions have made it a popular option for malware in recent years, the way the Microsoft office is similar to the VBA script/macros.
Microsoft officially removed Powershell 2.0 Remove all the way in 2017So it has been on the chopping block for some time. The company said at the time that some of its applications were still using Powershell 2.0, including SQL servers and versions of the exchange. Most scripts and applications around today should be used as a base requirement of Powershell 5.0 or later, but there are some that are still not updated.
The Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27891 is currently released in the canary channel, and it completely removes support for Powershell 2.0. There is no new details, but Microsoft said that “the removal of Windows Powerrshel 2.0 in the upcoming update for Windows 11 will be shared in the coming months.”
Should you care?
Removing Powershell 2.0 should affect very few people. If you are a long -term powerrashell user, you may need to update some of your scripts. Some old applications can use Powershell 2.0 for some functionality, and if one of those brakes, you have to check with the developer or publisher for updated release.
If you still have some scripts that run in 2.0 mode using one of these commands, you will need to remove them and fix any error that occurs with the default version of the powerrashel:
powershell.exe -version 2
powershell -v 2
Killing Powershell 2.0 will not affect most people, and it stops some long -standing security issues in Windows, perhaps that is why the microsoft is fine with it doing it. Some other recent expulsions were certainly more notable to the average PC owner, such as the disadvantage of WordPad.
Source: Windows insider blog
