PowerShell architect retires after decades at the prompt
(2026/01/22)
- Reference: 1769102914
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/22/powershell_snover_retires/
- Source link:
A really important window is closing. Jeffrey Snover, chief PowerShell boffin and hero of Windows administrators around the world, has retired.
Snover's retirement comes after a brief sojourn at Google as a Distinguished Engineer, following a lengthy stint at Microsoft, during which he pulled the company back from imposing a graphical user interface (GUI) on administrators who really just wanted a command line from which to run their scripts.
Snover joined Microsoft as the 20th century drew to a close. The company was all about its Windows operating system and user interface in those days – great for end users, but not so good for administrators managing fleets of servers. Snover correctly predicted a shift to server datacenters, which would require automated management. A powerful shell... a PowerShell, if you will.
[1]
But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
[2]
[3]
In 2002, Snover produced the [4]Monad Manifesto [PDF], a platform for administrative automation with a shell and scripting, and even a management console. Famously, he did not receive plaudits within Microsoft for his pains. He was instead demoted. Years later, he [5]revealed his profound embarrassment at the move. However, he persevered and PowerShell eventually launched in 2006, becoming the essential administrative tool it is today.
Memorably, a number of Microsoft executives quietly told Snover "we were rooting for you" as he seemingly banged his head against the Redmond wall during his time in the wilderness.
[6]
"If you ever were rooting for somebody," said Snover dryly, "please do him a favor and go tell him. It really would have helped."
As it turned out, Snover's demotion became a promotion. He went on to become a Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft and Lead Architect for Windows Server, later serving as Chief Architect for the Enterprise Cloud Group and Microsoft Azure Stack, before closing out his time at [7]Microsoft as Chief Technical Officer for Modern Work Transformation (MWT) and AI architect for the Microsoft 365 Substrate.
[8]Microsoft finally bids farewell to PowerShell 2.0
[9]Developer writes script to throw AI out of Windows
[10]End of Windows 10 support is the perfect time for the Windows 11 installer to fail
[11]Microsoft declutters Windows 11 File Explorer in the name of Euro privacy
In 2022, Snover left Microsoft spent a few years at Google. Now retired, it is difficult to imagine Snover sitting back and watching daytime television any time soon – in his bio, he describes himself as "Philosopher-Errant."
Over the years, Snover has dropped the occasional pearl of wisdom or shared memories from his time getting PowerShell off the ground. A recent favorite concerns the naming of Cmdlets and their original name in Monad: Function Units, or FUs. Snover [12]wrote : "This abbreviation reflected the Unix smart-ass culture I was embracing at the time. Plus I was developing this in a hostile environment, and my sense of diplomacy was not yet fully operational."
Snover doubtless has many more war stories to share. In the meantime, however, we wish him well. Many admins owe Snover thanks for persuading Microsoft that its GUI obsession did not translate to the datacenter, and for lengthy careers in gluing enterprise systems together with some scripted automation.
[13]
Now if only somebody could do the same for the company's current obsession with Copilot. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
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[4] https://www.jsnover.com/Docs/MonadManifesto.pdf
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/jeffrey_snover_said_microsoft_demoted/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/20/jeffrey_snover_workplace_transformation/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/04/microsoft_finally_bids_farewell_to/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/13/script_removes_ai_from_windows/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/13/windows_11_media_creation/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/windows_11_24h2_preview/
[12] https://www.jsnover.com/blog/2025/12/11/the-cmdlet-decision-when-to-be-weird/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Snover's retirement comes after a brief sojourn at Google as a Distinguished Engineer, following a lengthy stint at Microsoft, during which he pulled the company back from imposing a graphical user interface (GUI) on administrators who really just wanted a command line from which to run their scripts.
Snover joined Microsoft as the 20th century drew to a close. The company was all about its Windows operating system and user interface in those days – great for end users, but not so good for administrators managing fleets of servers. Snover correctly predicted a shift to server datacenters, which would require automated management. A powerful shell... a PowerShell, if you will.
[1]
But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
[2]
[3]
In 2002, Snover produced the [4]Monad Manifesto [PDF], a platform for administrative automation with a shell and scripting, and even a management console. Famously, he did not receive plaudits within Microsoft for his pains. He was instead demoted. Years later, he [5]revealed his profound embarrassment at the move. However, he persevered and PowerShell eventually launched in 2006, becoming the essential administrative tool it is today.
Memorably, a number of Microsoft executives quietly told Snover "we were rooting for you" as he seemingly banged his head against the Redmond wall during his time in the wilderness.
[6]
"If you ever were rooting for somebody," said Snover dryly, "please do him a favor and go tell him. It really would have helped."
As it turned out, Snover's demotion became a promotion. He went on to become a Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft and Lead Architect for Windows Server, later serving as Chief Architect for the Enterprise Cloud Group and Microsoft Azure Stack, before closing out his time at [7]Microsoft as Chief Technical Officer for Modern Work Transformation (MWT) and AI architect for the Microsoft 365 Substrate.
[8]Microsoft finally bids farewell to PowerShell 2.0
[9]Developer writes script to throw AI out of Windows
[10]End of Windows 10 support is the perfect time for the Windows 11 installer to fail
[11]Microsoft declutters Windows 11 File Explorer in the name of Euro privacy
In 2022, Snover left Microsoft spent a few years at Google. Now retired, it is difficult to imagine Snover sitting back and watching daytime television any time soon – in his bio, he describes himself as "Philosopher-Errant."
Over the years, Snover has dropped the occasional pearl of wisdom or shared memories from his time getting PowerShell off the ground. A recent favorite concerns the naming of Cmdlets and their original name in Monad: Function Units, or FUs. Snover [12]wrote : "This abbreviation reflected the Unix smart-ass culture I was embracing at the time. Plus I was developing this in a hostile environment, and my sense of diplomacy was not yet fully operational."
Snover doubtless has many more war stories to share. In the meantime, however, we wish him well. Many admins owe Snover thanks for persuading Microsoft that its GUI obsession did not translate to the datacenter, and for lengthy careers in gluing enterprise systems together with some scripted automation.
[13]
Now if only somebody could do the same for the company's current obsession with Copilot. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.jsnover.com/Docs/MonadManifesto.pdf
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/10/jeffrey_snover_said_microsoft_demoted/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/20/jeffrey_snover_workplace_transformation/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/04/microsoft_finally_bids_farewell_to/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/13/script_removes_ai_from_windows/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/13/windows_11_media_creation/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/19/windows_11_24h2_preview/
[12] https://www.jsnover.com/blog/2025/12/11/the-cmdlet-decision-when-to-be-weird/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXKsFRS2mA8mNB1FVvCrqQAAApQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
NoneSuch
Now that Mr. Snover is gone, engineers will revise PowerShell—introducing new code snippets while deprecating others—ship versions that may or may not be backward‑compatible with older builds, and require users to relearn modified command‑line switches.
So, same old, same old then....
the Unix smart-ass culture I was embracing at the time.
david 12
Yes, that is the best description of Power Shell that I've seen for a long time.
Powershell increased my pay
considerably...
Knowing how to achieve things, of course admittedly on the shoulders of many giants in powershell, and apply it to places it has not yet been applied to. The latter is where the pay comes from, 'cause everybody can google, can AI, but there is always a step or a few steps missing to reach a target which no one had published yet.
One of the older things which I achieved: In DFS-N the option [1]"Set explicit view permissions on the DFS folder" cannot be activated with powershell, even according to [2]Microsoft . You can set the explicit rights, but you cannot "click" that option. But I needed it across nearly 100 namespaces with several thousand links. No way doing it by hand, way to prone to mistakes, so I found the method to do so with Powershell. Since a lot unicode and other weirdness was included on top, the dfs*.exe tools could not do it too. This is one of the examples I published, most stuff is however so specific to customer needs that I am just too lazy to anonymise and publish it. (What weirdness? An example: Have you ever tried to deal with & in file or directory names in .cmd?)
I hope MS does not break it, but I already have one example: Try Get-Childitem -LiteralPath "\\?\C:\" in powershell ISE on Server 2022/2025 or Windows 11. It will throw "illegal character". Works in a normal shell, Windows 10, Server 2019 down to Server 2008 R2/Windows 7. But PS-ISE is, for admin, quite often the only development environment available. (Hint: This is the "access long paths and directories up to over 32700 in total length" syntax, you need that VERY often.)
[1] https://github.com/Joachim-Otahal/PowerShell/tree/main/DFS-N-Tools
[2] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/system-management-components/grant-dfsnaccess-not-change-inheritance