Setup your development environment on your new Windows machine

Installing new applications and tools for first time after you buy a new Windows machine or reinstalled it's OS is a tedious task. You have to go to each application's website, download the installer, run it, and follow the installation wizard (Next, Next, Next, ... 🥴). This process is time consuming and boring, However, it's a must do task not only for developers but for any user. Microsoft has introduced a new package manager called Winget to automate this process.

What is Winget?

Here is a quick guide to get you started with Winget.

• Windows Package Manager (aka WinGet) comes pre-installed with Windows 11 (21H2 and later). It can also be found in the Microsoft Store or be installed directly.

• winget list shows all the applications that you currently have installed on your machine.

• winget search <app-name> searches for an application in the winget repository. You can use this command to find the exact name of the application you want to install.

• winget install <app-name> installs the application. You can use this command to install any application from the winget repository.

• winget export exports the list of all installed applications to a JSON file. This can be helpful if you want to see what you have installed if you are planning to reinstall your OS or buy a new machine.

You can install each app individually using the winget install command, but that's not the best way to do it if you have a long list of applications to install. You can create a PowerShell script to automate the installation process.

Option 1: export and import

If you already have a windows machine with all the applications you need installed, you can export the list of installed applications using the winget export command.

# export the list of installed applications to a JSON file
winget export -o apps.json

This will create a JSON file with the list of all installed applications. You can use this file to install the same applications on another machine.

# install all applications from the JSON file
winget import -i apps.json

Here you go, all your applications are installed on your new machine!

Option 2: create a PowerShell script

If you don't have a machine with all the applications you need installed, you can create a PowerShell script to install all the applications you need. Here is my script that installs some of the applications I use on my machine.

Write-Output "`e[1;33mInstalling Apps`e[0m"
 
$apps = @(
# browsers
"Microsoft.Edge"
"Google.Chrome"
"Mozilla.Firefox.DeveloperEdition"
"ResponsivelyApp.ResponsivelyApp"
 
# General apps
"RARLab.WinRAR"
"Spotify.Spotify"
"AnyDeskSoftwareGmbH.AnyDesk"
"OBSProject.OBSStudio"
"Valve.Steam"
"ElaborateBytes.VirtualCloneDrive"
"Logitech.GHUB"
"Tonec.InternetDownloadManager"
"Cisco.Jabber"
"voidtools.Everything"
"Adobe.Acrobat.Reader.64-bit"
"VideoLAN.VLC"
"Rufus.Rufus"
"Inkscape.Inkscape"
"WinDirStat.WinDirStat"
"Blueberry.FlashbackExpress"
 
# VPNs
"Windscribe.Windscribe"
"Fortinet.FortiClientVPN"
"NordVPN.NordVPN"
"OpenVPNTechnologies.OpenVPNConnect"
"TorProject.TorBrowser"
"Initex.Proxifier"
 
# Messengers
"Telegram.TelegramDesktop"
"Discord.Discord"
"Microsoft.Teams"
"SlackTechnologies.Slack"
"Zoom.Zoom"
"WhatsApp.WhatsApp"
 
# IDEs
"Notepad++.Notepad++"
"Microsoft.VisualStudioCode"
"JetBrains.WebStorm"
"JetBrains.Rider"
"Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community"
"JetBrains.ReSharper"
"JetBrains.Toolbox"
 
# Programming languages
"OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS"
"Microsoft.dotnet"
"Python.Python.3"
"Oracle.JDK.17"
 
# Dev tools
"Meld.Meld"
"Git.Git"
"SysInternals"
"Microsoft.PowerShell"
"Yarn.Yarn"
"Postman.Postman"
"Microsoft.WindowsTerminal"
"Microsoft.PowerToys"
"Canonical.Ubuntu.2004"
"Oracle.VirtualBox"
"Docker.DockerDesktop"
"Telerik.Fiddler.Classic"
"Ookla.Speedtest"
 
# Office tools
"Microsoft.Office"
"Microsoft.OneDrive"
"Grammarly.ForWindows"
"Grammarly.ForOffice"
"Notion.Notion"
)
 
foreach ($app in $apps) {
    $listApp = winget list --exact -q $app
 
    if (![String]::Join("", $listApp).Contains($app)) {
        Write-Host "`e[1;32mInstalling: $app`e[0m"
        winget install -e -h --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements --id $app
    } else {
        Write-Host "`e[1;34mSkipping: $app (already installed)`e[0m"
    }
}
 

Save this script as install-apps.ps1 and run it using PowerShell.

Tada! All your applications are installed on your new machine!