Tools

One of the BEST things anyone can do to get started with anything is to build your tools.  There is a vast array of tools you can use for PoSh, and here are some of my favorites:

PowerGUI
http://www.powergui.org/
"...a graphical user interface and script editor for Microsoft Windows PowerShell!"
PowerGUI has been my best friend, and best tool for my code creation.  It's a free product with a full PoSh console, that will autofill, color,  and organize code, and shows all objects and their information.  That's just the tip of the iceberg.  This is by far my #1 tool.


ActiveRoles Management Shell for Active Directory
http://www.quest.com/powershell/activeroles-server.aspx
"..a set of predefined commands for Windows PowerShell ... designed to help administrators automate common, repetitive and bulk management tasks such as creating, removing or updating objects in Active Directory."
From the makers of PowerGUI, Quest Software has put together a great set of CmdLets for Active Directory integration and automation.  Extremely helpfull for anyone in IT from Small Business to Enterprise.


WMIExplorer
http://thepowershellguy.com/blogs/posh/archive/2007/03/22/powershell-wmi-explorer-part-1.aspx
"...a PowerShell GUI WMI Explorer, to explore WMI from PowerShell in a graphical interface"
This is a very usefull tool for searching the WMI space for bits of information, and to bring that back into PoSh code.  Kudos to /\/\o\/\/...once again!




This is far from all of the tools I use, but stay tuned.  I plan on going through them 1x1 in more detail, and adding to this list!