Winget Windows Package Manager

Windows Package Manager (winget) is the official command-line package manager for Windows, enabling users to discover, install, upgrade, remove, and configure applications from a centralized repository. Released by Microsoft in 2020 as part of the App Installer, winget brings modern package management to Windows similar to apt on Linux or Homebrew on macOS. Key features: simple command-line interface with winget install, winget upgrade, winget uninstall, winget search, winget list, winget show, and winget export commands. Community-maintained repository (winget-pkgs on GitHub) containing over 4,000 application manifests with metadata including download URLs, checksums, installer types (MSI, MSIX, EXE, ZIP, and portable), and installation arguments. Silent installation leveraging native installer silent flags (MSI quiet mode, Inno Setup /SILENT, NSIS /S) for automated, non-interactive application deployment. Bulk upgrade with winget upgrade --all for updating all installed packages to their latest versions. Export and import functionality with winget export and winget import for backing up and restoring installed application sets across machines. Manifest format (YAML) describing package metadata, versions, installers, and dependencies, with schema validation and multi-architecture support (x86, x64, ARM64). Winget Settings for configuring source preferences, install behavior, network settings, and telemetry. Multiple sources including the default community repository and custom private repositories for enterprise package distribution. REST API source protocol for connecting to alternative package sources. Winget SDK for programmatic access from .NET applications. PowerShell module for scripting and automation. Windows Terminal integration. Microsoft Store integration allowing winget to install both Store apps and traditional desktop applications. Group Policy support for enterprise configuration.