PowerShell 7.5/7.6 Features

Version Overview

PowerShell 7.5 is the current stable LTS (Long-Term Support) release. PowerShell 7.6 is in preview with new features targeting GA in early 2026.

PowerShell 7.5 Features

PowerShell 7.5 GA (General Availability: January 2025) - Latest stable version 7.5.4 (October 2025) built on .NET 9.0.306 with significant performance and memory enhancements.

New Cmdlets

ConvertTo-CliXml and ConvertFrom-CliXml

Convert objects to/from CLI XML format without file I/O:

# ConvertTo-CliXml - Convert object to XML string
$process = Get-Process -Name pwsh
$xmlString = $process | ConvertTo-CliXml

# ConvertFrom-CliXml - Convert XML string back to object
$restored = $xmlString | ConvertFrom-CliXml
$restored.ProcessName  # Outputs: pwsh

# Use cases:
# - Serialize objects for API transmission
# - Store object state in databases/caches
# - Share objects across PowerShell sessions
# - Clipboard operations with rich objects

Difference from Export/Import-Clixml:

• Export-Clixml: Writes to file
• ConvertTo-CliXml: Returns string (no file I/O)

Enhanced Test-Path Cmdlet

-OlderThan and -NewerThan Parameters

Filter paths by modification time:

# Find files older than 30 days
Test-Path "C:\Logs\*.log" -OlderThan (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)

# Find files newer than 1 hour
Test-Path "C:\Temp\*" -NewerThan (Get-Date).AddHours(-1)

# Cleanup old log files
Get-ChildItem "C:\Logs" -Filter "*.log" |
  Where-Object { Test-Path $_.FullName -OlderThan (Get-Date).AddDays(-90) } |
  Remove-Item -WhatIf

# Find recent downloads
Get-ChildItem "C:\Users\*\Downloads" -Recurse |
  Where-Object { Test-Path $_.FullName -NewerThan (Get-Date).AddDays(-7) }

Use Cases:

• Log rotation automation
• Backup file cleanup
• Recent file monitoring
• Cache invalidation

Enhanced Web Cmdlets

-PassThru with -OutFile

Save response to file AND return content:

# Before PowerShell 7.5 (choose one):
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -OutFile "download.zip"  # Save only
$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url              # Return only

# PowerShell 7.5 (both):
$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -OutFile "download.zip" -PassThru
$response.StatusCode  # 200
# File also saved to download.zip

# Download and verify
$result = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.example.com/data.json" `
  -OutFile "data.json" `
  -PassThru

Write-Host "Downloaded $($result.Length) bytes"
# File saved to data.json

Benefits:

• Download progress tracking
• HTTP header inspection
• Status code verification
• Combined file save + content processing

Enhanced Test-Json Cmdlet

IgnoreComments and AllowTrailingCommas

Parse relaxed JSON formats:

# JSON with comments (previously invalid)
$jsonWithComments = @"
{
  // This is a comment
  "name": "example",  // inline comment
  /* Multi-line
     comment */
  "version": "1.0"
}
"@

# PowerShell 7.5 - Parse with comments
$obj = $jsonWithComments | ConvertFrom-Json -IgnoreComments
$obj.name  # Outputs: example

# JSON with trailing commas (previously invalid)
$jsonTrailing = @"
{
  "items": [
    "first",
    "second",  // trailing comma
  ],
}
"@

# PowerShell 7.5 - Parse with trailing commas
$obj = $jsonTrailing | ConvertFrom-Json -AllowTrailingCommas

# Validate JSON with relaxed syntax
Test-Json -Json $jsonWithComments -IgnoreComments
Test-Json -Json $jsonTrailing -AllowTrailingCommas

Use Cases:

• Parse configuration files with comments
• Handle JSON from JavaScript tools
• Accept relaxed JSON from APIs
• Config file validation

Enhanced Resolve-Path and Convert-Path

-Force Parameter for Wildcard Hidden Files

Access hidden/system files with wildcards:

# PowerShell 7.4 and earlier - Hidden files not matched
Resolve-Path "C:\Users\*\.*" | Select-Object -First 5
# Skips .vscode, .gitignore, etc.

# PowerShell 7.5 - Include hidden files
Resolve-Path "C:\Users\*\.*" -Force | Select-Object -First 5
# Includes .vscode, .gitignore, .bashrc, etc.

# Find all hidden config files
Resolve-Path "C:\Projects\*\.*" -Force |
  Where-Object { (Get-Item $_).Attributes -match "Hidden" }

# Convert-Path also supports -Force
Convert-Path "~/.config/*" -Force

Use Cases:

• Backup scripts including hidden files
• Configuration discovery
• Security audits
• Development environment setup

New-FileCatalog Version 2 Default

FileCatalog version 2 is now default:

# PowerShell 7.5 - Version 2 by default
New-FileCatalog -Path "C:\Project" -CatalogFilePath "catalog.cat"
# Creates version 2 catalog (SHA256)

# Explicitly specify version
New-FileCatalog -Path "C:\Project" `
  -CatalogFilePath "catalog.cat" `
  -CatalogVersion 2

# Test file integrity
Test-FileCatalog -Path "C:\Project" -CatalogFilePath "catalog.cat"

Version Differences:

• Version 1: SHA1 hashing (legacy)
• Version 2: SHA256 hashing (default, more secure)

.NET 9 Performance Enhancements

Significant Performance Improvements

# PowerShell 7.5 benefits from .NET 9.0.306:
# - Faster startup time
# - Reduced memory consumption
# - Improved JIT compilation
# - Better garbage collection

# Example: Large dataset processing
Measure-Command {
  1..1000000 | ForEach-Object { $_ * 2 }
}
# PowerShell 7.4: ~2.5 seconds
# PowerShell 7.5: ~1.8 seconds (28% faster)

Memory Efficiency

# Lower memory footprint for:
# - Large collections
# - Long-running scripts
# - Concurrent operations
# - Pipeline processing

# Monitor memory usage
[System.GC]::GetTotalMemory($false) / 1MB
# PowerShell 7.5 uses 15-20% less memory on average

PSResourceGet 1.1.1 (March 2025)

Modern Package Management

PSResourceGet is the official successor to PowerShellGet, offering significant performance improvements and enhanced security.

Key Features:

• 2x faster module installation
• Improved security - SecretManagement integration for secure credential storage
• Azure Artifacts support - Enterprise private feed integration
• Better error handling - Clearer error messages and retry logic

# Install PSResourceGet (included in PowerShell 7.4+)
Install-Module -Name Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet -Force

# New commands
Install-PSResource -Name Az -Scope CurrentUser  # 2x faster than Install-Module
Find-PSResource -Name "*Azure*"                 # Replaces Find-Module
Update-PSResource -Name Az                      # Replaces Update-Module
Get-InstalledPSResource                         # Replaces Get-InstalledModule

# Security best practice - use SecretManagement for credentials
Register-PSResourceRepository -Name "PrivateFeed" `
    -Uri "https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/org/project/_packaging/feed/nuget/v3/index.json" `
    -Trusted

# Retrieve credential from SecretManagement vault
$credential = Get-Secret -Name "AzureArtifactsToken" -AsPlainText
Install-PSResource -Name "MyPrivateModule" -Repository "PrivateFeed" -Credential $credential

Performance Comparison:

Security Enhancements:

• Never use plaintext credentials in scripts
• Use SecretManagement module for storing repository credentials
• Support for Azure DevOps Personal Access Tokens (PAT)
• Integrated authentication with Azure Artifacts

# WRONG - plaintext credential
$cred = New-Object PSCredential("user", (ConvertTo-SecureString "password" -AsPlainText -Force))

# CORRECT - SecretManagement
Install-Module Microsoft.PowerShell.SecretManagement
Register-SecretVault -Name LocalVault -ModuleName Microsoft.PowerShell.SecretStore
Set-Secret -Name "RepoToken" -Secret "your-token"

$token = Get-Secret -Name "RepoToken" -AsPlainText
Install-PSResource -Name "Module" -Repository "Feed" -Credential $token

Migration from PowerShell 7.4

Check Version

# Current version
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
# 7.5.4 (latest stable as of October 2025)

# .NET version
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeInformation]::FrameworkDescription
# .NET 9.0.306

# PSResourceGet version
Get-Module Microsoft.PowerShell.PSResourceGet -ListAvailable
# Version 1.1.1 (latest as of March 2025)

Update Scripts for 7.5

# Replace file-based XML serialization
# Before:
$data | Export-Clixml -Path "temp.xml"
$xml = Get-Content "temp.xml" -Raw
Remove-Item "temp.xml"

# After:
$xml = $data | ConvertTo-CliXml

# Use new Test-Path filtering
# Before:
Get-ChildItem | Where-Object {
  $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)
}

# After:
Get-ChildItem | Where-Object {
  Test-Path $_.FullName -OlderThan (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)
}

# Leverage -PassThru for downloads
# Before:
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -OutFile "file.zip"
$size = (Get-Item "file.zip").Length

# After:
$response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -OutFile "file.zip" -PassThru
$size = $response.RawContentLength

Best Practices for PowerShell 7.5

1. Use ConvertTo/From-CliXml for in-memory serialization:

# Serialize to clipboard
$data | ConvertTo-CliXml | Set-Clipboard

# Deserialize from clipboard
$restored = Get-Clipboard | ConvertFrom-CliXml

2. Leverage Test-Path time filtering:

# Clean old logs
Get-ChildItem "C:\Logs" | Where-Object {
  Test-Path $_.FullName -OlderThan (Get-Date).AddDays(-90)
} | Remove-Item

3. Use -Force for hidden file operations:

# Backup including hidden config files
Resolve-Path "~/*" -Force |
  Where-Object { Test-Path $_ -OlderThan (Get-Date).AddDays(-1) } |
  Copy-Item -Destination "C:\Backup\"

4. Simplify download workflows:

# Download and verify in one step
$response = Invoke-WebRequest $url -OutFile "data.zip" -PassThru
if ($response.StatusCode -eq 200) {
  Expand-Archive "data.zip" -Destination "data/"
}

5. Parse relaxed JSON:

# Configuration files with comments
$config = Get-Content "config.jsonc" -Raw |
  ConvertFrom-Json -IgnoreComments

CI/CD Integration

# GitHub Actions with PowerShell 7.5
- name: Setup PowerShell 7.5
  uses: actions/setup-powershell@v1
  with:
    pwsh-version: '7.5.x'

- name: Run Script with 7.5 Features
  shell: pwsh
  run: |
    # Use ConvertTo-CliXml for artifact storage
    $results = ./Invoke-Tests.ps1
    $results | ConvertTo-CliXml | Out-File "results.xml"

    # Download dependencies with -PassThru
    $response = Invoke-WebRequest $depUrl -OutFile "deps.zip" -PassThru
    Write-Host "Downloaded $($response.RawContentLength) bytes"

Backward Compatibility

PowerShell 7.5 maintains compatibility with 7.x scripts:

• All 7.0-7.4 scripts work unchanged
• New parameters are opt-in
• No breaking changes to existing cmdlets
• Module compatibility preserved

Performance Benchmarks

PowerShell 7.6 Preview Features

Detailed coverage of the 7.6 preview line — += array-concatenation optimization (8-16x), enhanced Get-Clipboard and Get-Command, PSResourceGet 1.2.0-preview, DSC v3 resources, the PSForEach / PSWhere aliases, .NET 10 integration, experimental features, breaking changes vs 7.5, migration steps, and 7.5 vs 7.6 benchmarks — lives in references/powershell-7-6-preview.md. Load that reference when evaluating or adopting 7.6 features.

Resources

• PowerShell 7.5 Release Notes
• PowerShell 7.6 Preview Release Notes
• .NET 9 Performance
• .NET 10 What's New
• PowerShell Team Blog
• DSC v3 Repository