WinGet, or Windows Package Manager, is a package manager for Windows clearly inspired by those available in Linux. Who would have thought that Microsoft would promote a program of these characteristics when 20 years ago it insisted on giving the command line a secondary role and came to proclaim itself as the greatest enemy of Linux and free software.
Far from being a gesture towards the gallery, it seems that Microsoft is taking the development of Windows Package Manager seriously, with version 1.2.10271, published on February 2, 2022, the latest stable release. The latest preview version of the package manager, which was released yesterday, has included a new feature consisting of support for portable applications.
Until now, Windows Package Manager would not offer support for portable applications (those that do not require installation and that can be used after being unzipped and even from a pendrive), since it only covered those that were published in the Microsoft store and those that necessarily had to be installed. install locally in Win32 format. The intention is not only for WinGet to be able to download portable applications, but also to remove and update them, things that are expected to be implemented in the future.
Portable application update and removal capabilities have not yet been implemented in Windows Package Manager and the community repository does not support portable applications either. Users can experiment with local manifests in a process that will require manual cleanup of Windows Features and Applications entries if you want to install a portable application.
Windows Package Manager (WinGet) running on Windows 10.
In short, the latest previous version of Windows Package Manager has introduced support for installing portable applications and plans to include update and removal in the future. The version of the package manager that has received this feature is 1.3.1251, which can be used by those running Windows 11, Windows 10 1809 or later. It will also reach Windows Insider Dev builds and insider users of the Windows Package Manager itself.
Despite the stubbornness of the Redmond giant to put an end to the command line in Windows, the passage of time ended up not giving him the reason, since said interface has clear advantages over graphical interfaces in objective terms. Moreover, it can even be said that Windows should rely more on the command line interface to offer faster solutions to execute.
Windows Package Manager may sound to many like a step backwards or something too much geekybut the reality is that it can be useful for relatively advanced users and programmers.
