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Product terminology and branding guidelines

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When writing about any product it's important to correctly and consistently use product names and terminology. This guide defines product names and terminology related to PowerShell. Note the capitalization of specific words or use cases.

PowerShell (collective name)

Use PowerShell to describe the scripting language and an interactive shell.

PowerShell (product name)

The cross-platform version of PowerShell that's built on .NET (core), rather than the .NET Framework. PowerShell can be installed on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

PowerShell Core (product deprecated)

The name used for PowerShell v6, built on .NET Core. This name shouldn't be used.

Windows PowerShell (product name)

The version of PowerShell that ships in Windows, which requires the full .NET Framework.

Guidelines

  • First mention - use "Windows PowerShell"

  • Subsequent mentions - Use "PowerShell" unless the use case requires "Windows PowerShell" to be more specific:

    In PowerShell, the Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet returns BasicHtmlWebResponseObject

    In Windows PowerShell, the Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet returns HtmlWebResponseObject

PowerShell modules

PowerShell modules are add-ons that contain PowerShell cmdlets to manage specific products or services.

For example:

  • Azure PowerShell
  • Az.Accounts module
  • Windows management module
  • Hyper-V module
  • Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK
  • Exchange PowerShell

Guidelines

  • Always use the collective name or the more specific module name when referring to a PowerShell module
  • Never refer to a module as "PowerShell"

Azure PowerShell (collective name)

The branded group of products containing PowerShell modules used to manage Azure.

There are several versions of Azure PowerShell products available. Each product contains multiple named modules.

Guidelines

  • Use "Azure PowerShell" as the collective name for the product
  • Always use the collective name, never just "PowerShell"
  • Use the more specific product name when referring to a specific version

Az PowerShell (product name)

The currently supported collection of modules for managing Azure resources with PowerShell.

AzureRM PowerShell (product name)

The previous generation of modules that use the Azure Resource Manager (ARM) model for managing Azure resources. This product is deprecated, no longer maintained or supported, and not recommended.

Azure Service Management PowerShell (product name)

The earliest collection of modules for managing legacy Azure resources that use Azure Service Manager (ASM) APIs. This legacy PowerShell module isn't recommended when creating new resources since ASM is scheduled for retirement.

These products are used to manage Azure resources but aren't part of the Azure PowerShell collective product. They should never be described using the "Azure PowerShell" collective name.

  • Azure Active Directory PowerShell (AzureAD)
  • Azure Information Protection PowerShell
  • Azure Deployment Manager PowerShell
  • Azure Elastic Database Jobs PowerShell
  • Azure Service Fabric PowerShell
  • Azure Stack PowerShell
  • Microsoft.Graph PowerShell
  • Microsoft.Graph.Entra PowerShell
  • MSOnline PowerShell

Guidelines

  • Always use the full proper name of the product or the specific PowerShell module name

Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

This is Microsoft's free, open source editor.

Guidelines

  • First mention - use the full name
  • Subsequent mentions - you can use "VS Code"
  • Never use "VSCode"

PowerShell Extension for Visual Studio Code

The extension turns VS Code into the preferred IDE for PowerShell.

Guidelines

  • First mention - use the full name
  • Subsequent mentions - you can use "PowerShell extension"