Simple Win GUI - should I try PowerShell or just stick with HTA?

Question

knowing what PowerShell can do on a command line I have never learned how to write GUIs with it. Should I?

Or just go back to the good old HTA / VBScript?

Answer 1

You're sure to get varying answers on this depending on folks' background. I do development work and I'd just as soon write a GUI using C#. The Visual Studio forms designer is quite nice and doesn't have an equivalent in PowerShell out-of-the-box. And the VS debugger is still much better. That said, if you want to delve into this area you should check out two PowerShell modules for creating GUI via WPF: PowerBoots by Jaykul and WPK in the PowerShellPack by one of the PowerShell team members. As you will see when you look at the PowerBoots site, it is definitely possible to do GUI with PowerShell.

Answer 2

I would recommend a simple VB.Net / C# WinForms app.

Answer 3

If you're looking to package Powershell with a GUI I would suggest looking at PrimalForms to quickly prototype your solution.

It has a simple winforms designer powered by powershell scripts.