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 features when it insisted that the command line be given a secondary role 20 years ago and began to claim to be the biggest enemy of Linux and free software.

This is far from a gesture towards the gallery, but Microsoft seems to take the development of Windows Package Manager seriously, with version 1.2.10271, published February 2, 2022, the latest stable release. The latest preview version of the package manager, released yesterday, includes a new feature to support portable applications.

Until now, Windows Package Manager has not offered support for portable applications (those that do not require installation and can be used unpacked and even flash drive) because 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 delete and update them, which are things that are expected to be implemented in the future..

Portable application update and removal options have not yet been implemented in Windows Package Manager, and Community Storage also does not support portable applications. Users can experiment with local manifestes in a process that will require you to manually clean up Windows features and applications 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 introduced support for installing portable applications and plans to include updates and removals in the future. The version of the package manager that received this function is 1.3.1251which can be used by users running Windows 11, Windows 10 1809 or later. It also gets the build of Windows Insider Dev and the insider users of the Windows Package Manager itself.

Despite the stubbornness of the Redmond giant ending the command line in Windows, over time it gave him no reason, because the interface has clear advantages over graphical interfaces from an objective point of view. In addition, it should even be said that Windows should rely more on the command line interface to offer a faster solution.

Windows Package Manager may sound like a step back or something too much to many oddbut the reality is that it can be useful for relatively advanced users and programmers.