Windows has been around for a long time, and there have been a couple of ways of installing software on it. The most recent one has been using the Microsoft Windows Store. You can download free software from it, or paid ones, or subscription ones. It has a nice interface and it is easy to navigate, but you may not always find the software you’re looking for. The other method is downloading software from a developer’s web site. This is reasonably easy too but there is the fear of hoax web sites and fake software with malware, and so on. Once you do install a software, upgrading it can be a pain. One needs to visit the set of software developers web sites frequently looking for feature updates or bug fixes. It’s hard to manage this when you have say, 20 or 30 software. Enter Chocolatey, a simple package manager that needs a one-time installation, and it lets you do several things. By the time we’re done, you will be glad you tried out Chocolatey.
Chocolatey lets you use a command prompt to install a software in seconds, of course depending on your internet connection speed. It lets you update all the installed software using chocolatey too using a single command.
Remember to perform the steps carefully, and if you’re sure of what you’re doing. The complex part is the installation, which involves typing a few commands into a command prompt. Simply start a Powershell by pressing the Start button and typing Powershell. Right-click on Windows PowerShell and click on Run as Administrator. You can also start it by pressing Winkey + X, then choosing WIndows Powershell (Admin).
Paste this command in the prompt
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(‘https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1’))
As is recommended, always refer to the source of any instructions given online. In this case, you can verify it by accessing Chocolatey’s instructions page.
Press Enter and give it a few moments. Chocolatey will have been installed on your Windows installation.
Use the same method we used earlier, but to launch any Command Prompt. Search for Command Prompt after pressing the Windows key, then right-click on it and click Run as Administrator. We will use the same method hereon to type all commands. We run these commands as Administrator since some software might need administrator rights to create and make changes to folders, and the system. The same goes for when when you’re upgrading or uninstalling.
That’s all there is to it. The whole database of Windows software accessible to you spans in the thousands. You can search for a software on Chocolatey’s web site, although the names are quite intuitive. The web site offers reviews, comments by other users, even a list of dependencies and virus scans for the package you’re about to install.
The command needed to install the software is also given there and it’s as simple as choco install <name of package>. So for example, if you wish to install Notepad++, simply type choco install notepadplusplus or choco install vlc to install VLC Media Player.
There is also software that let you install Chocolatey packages using a graphical interface. One of the popular options is called ChocolateyGUI. It can be installed using the command, choco install ChocolateyGUI. The package gives you an easy-to-use interface to search for packages and to install them.
Upgrading packages installed from choco is just as simple. Type choco upgrade <package name>. What’s better, if you have a stable internet connection, you can upgrade all the packages you installed using choco using a single command, choco upgrade all.
If you’re looking to uninstall a particular package, type choco uninstall <package name> (without the < > brackets) and press Enter.
At any point if you wish to upgrade Chocolatey itself, simply open a command prompt and type, choco upgrade chocolatey and press Enter.
Chocolatey is also available for larger workplaces too, to be able to deploy upgrades and fixes remotely. If you find managing software just as annoying as we have, Chocolatey should be an absolute delight.
