We all know that PowerShell is based on the .NET Framework. PowerShell exposes a lot of the framework through abstractions like cmdlets and providers. Microsoft never wanted to force IT Pros to be .NET developers to use PowerShell. However, a little .NET experience can go a long way, and there may be situations where invoking the .NET framework is the best or only solution.

One area where you might need a .NET solution is with the environment. I’m talking about your computer environment, which we’ve had since the days of DOS.

C:\> set
ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\ProgramData
APPDATA=C:\Users\Jeff\AppData\Roaming
CommonProgramFiles=C:\Program Files\Common Files
CommonProgramFiles(x86)=C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files
CommonProgramW6432=C:\Program Files\Common Files
COMPUTERNAME=PROSPERO
ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
DriverData=C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\DriverData                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  HOMEDRIVE=C:
HOMEPATH=\Users\Jeff
LOCALAPPDATA=C:\Users\Jeff\AppData\Local
LOGONSERVER=\\PROSPERO
NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS=20
...

In PowerShell, these items are exposed with the ENV: PSDrive.