For years the fastest way to bring up a coding machine was to install Linux. Windows meant clicking through installers, hunting for PATH bugs, and rebuilding a shell that felt right. That changed in 2026 when Microsoft shipped Windows Dev Configs, a single WinGet command that reads a YAML file and provisions Windows itself: features, packages, PowerShell modules, and settings, in one pass. It closes the gap that pushed most developers to WSL or a Mac in the first place.
This is our shortlist of the best apps for setting up a Windows dev environment, tested on a clean Windows 11 24H2 install across two laptops and one desktop. The mix covers what a working setup actually needs: provisioning automation, a package manager, a real terminal, an editor, a Linux compatibility layer, and the small quality of life tools you install and forget.
What to look for in a Windows dev environment tool
Reproducibility matters more than raw feature count. A tool earns a place here only if a second machine can be brought up from the same config in under an hour. Six criteria we weighed:
- Declarative config. Can the setup be described in a file that lives in source control, so a new laptop matches the last one?
- Silent, unattended installs. No dialogs, no prompts, no clicking Next. This is what makes package managers worth using.
- Update path. Does the tool ship upgrades for every package it installed, or does it forget them the moment they land?
- Scope of catalog. How much of the software an average dev needs is already indexed?
- Non-admin path. Some corporate laptops lock down UAC. Tools that install to your user profile without elevation are worth their weight.
- WSL and native parity. A modern dev machine runs both. The tools that respect this, and pipe files, ports, and clipboards cleanly across the boundary, win.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Install size | Free plan | Starting price | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Dev Configs | One-command provisioning | Ships with WinGet | Yes | Free | MIT |
| WinGet | Built-in package manager | 5 MB | Yes | Free | MIT |
| Scoop | No-admin user installs | 3 MB | Yes | Free | Unlicense |
| Chocolatey | Community catalog and legacy scripts | 15 MB | Yes | Business from $96/yr | Apache 2.0 (Community) |
| WSL 2 | Real Linux on Windows | 500 MB per distro | Yes | Free | Various |
| Windows Terminal | Multi-shell tabs and Quake mode | 40 MB | Yes | Free | MIT |
| Visual Studio Code | General purpose editing | 350 MB | Yes | Free | MIT (source), Microsoft (binary) |
| Git for Windows | Version control and OpenSSH | 350 MB | Yes | Free | GPL v2 |
| PowerToys | Utilities Windows forgot to ship | 500 MB | Yes | Free | MIT |
The apps
1. Windows Dev Configs, best for one-command provisioning
Windows Dev Configs is the newest and the most useful entry on this list. It extends WinGet with a configure verb that takes a YAML file describing everything a machine needs (Windows features, apps, PowerShell modules, dotfiles, git identity) and applies it in one pass. Run winget configure --file dev.yaml on a fresh install and the machine boots into a working state 20 to 40 minutes later, unattended. The file lives in a git repo, so the next laptop matches the last one to the byte.
Under the hood it runs on PowerShell Desired State Configuration. That means idempotency: run it twice and the second pass does nothing. It also handles reboots gracefully, resuming where it left off. The template Microsoft ships covers about 80 percent of what most devs need, and the schema is short enough to fork.
Where it falls short: the DSC resource ecosystem is still catching up. Some settings, like enabling Hyper-V’s nested virtualization or configuring specific WSL kernel flags, still need a follow-up script. Debugging a failing resource is a text log affair, not a UI.
Pricing:
- Free. MIT licensed, ships as part of WinGet 1.7 and later on Windows 10 2004+ and Windows 11.
Platforms: Windows 10 (2004 or later) and Windows 11.
Download: Microsoft Learn documentation and winget-cli on GitHub
Bottom line: Anyone who reinstalls Windows more than once a year should be writing a Dev Configs YAML instead of clicking through installers. It is the closest Windows has come to a Brewfile.
2. WinGet, best free package manager
WinGet is the foundation the rest of this list sits on. It ships with Windows 11 and modern Windows 10 builds, so there is nothing to install. winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode pulls the correct installer, runs it silently, and adds it to winget upgrade --all from that point on. The community repository indexes around 8,000 packages, including almost every developer tool that matters.
Manifests live in a public GitHub repo, and adding one is a pull request with a YAML file. This is why the catalog grew fast: any vendor or user can publish, and Microsoft’s validation pipeline handles signing and malware scanning before merge.
Where it falls short: installers stay installers. WinGet delegates to the underlying MSI or EXE, which means it inherits their quirks: a bad EXE that pops a UAC prompt will still pop a UAC prompt. Rollback is limited to whatever the installer supports.
Pricing:
- Free. MIT licensed, built into modern Windows.
Platforms: Windows 10 (1809 or later) and Windows 11.
Download: Microsoft Store listing (App Installer) and winget-cli GitHub
Bottom line: If you install software on Windows and are not already using WinGet, start today. Every other tool on this list can be installed with a single winget install.
3. Scoop, best for no-admin, user-space installs
Scoop takes a different approach to WinGet: everything lands in ~\scoop\ under your user profile, and nothing needs administrator rights. That matters on locked-down corporate machines and it matters when you want to keep dev tools cleanly separated from anything system-wide. Command line tools install as portable extracts, not MSIs, so an uninstall is a folder delete.
Scoop’s real strength is its bucket system. Extensions like extras, versions, and nerd-fonts add thousands of curated packages without polluting the main index. Aliases and shims mean multiple Node or Python versions coexist without a version manager wrapper.
Where it falls short: Scoop is GUI-averse by design. Apps with system-level integrations (drivers, services, shell extensions) either need admin buckets or do not work at all. The catalog is smaller than WinGet’s for consumer software.
Pricing:
- Free. Unlicense (public domain).
Platforms: Windows 10 and Windows 11 (PowerShell 5.1 or later).
Download: scoop.sh and ScoopInstaller on GitHub
Bottom line: The right pick if your work laptop won’t hand you admin rights, or if you like your dev tools portable and self-contained.
4. Chocolatey, best community catalog for legacy scripts
Chocolatey predates WinGet by nearly a decade, and its community repository still indexes packages WinGet does not. If you already have a Chocolatey packages.config from an older setup script, keep it. Chocolatey handles pre and post-install PowerShell hooks in a way WinGet’s manifest format still does not, which matters for tools that need registry tweaks or service configuration after install.
The paid tier (Chocolatey for Business) adds package internalization for air-gapped networks, self-service portals, and SLA support. Most individual developers stay on the free tier.
Where it falls short: the free community repo is community-moderated, with slower moderation than WinGet’s. Newer packages sometimes lag behind vendor releases. The default install path (C:\ProgramData\chocolatey) needs admin rights.
Pricing:
- Community edition: Free.
- Business: from $96 per node per year.
Platforms: Windows 7 or later; Windows Server 2008 R2 or later.
Download: chocolatey.org install page and Chocolatey GitHub
Bottom line: Skip if you are starting fresh. Keep if you have a working packages.config and no reason to migrate.
5. WSL 2, best for a real Linux workflow
WSL 2 puts a full Linux kernel inside Windows with near-native filesystem and network performance. In 2026 it is a first-class citizen: wsl --install Ubuntu-24.04 gets you a working shell in about two minutes, systemd runs by default, and GPU compute passthrough works for CUDA and DirectML workloads. Files in \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\you open in Explorer, and VS Code’s Remote WSL extension edits them without any copy step.
The .wslconfig file at the root of your Windows user profile controls memory, CPU, and swap allocation for the VM. New in the 2.5 release: mirrored networking mode, so services bound to localhost inside WSL are reachable from Windows without port forwarding.
Where it falls short: disk I/O across the Windows-Linux filesystem boundary (/mnt/c/) is still slow. Keep your source tree inside WSL’s own filesystem for anything build-heavy. GUI apps work (WSLg is bundled) but eat memory.
Pricing:
- Free. Individual Linux distributions ship under their own licenses.
Platforms: Windows 10 (version 2004+) and Windows 11.
Download: Microsoft Store (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and WSL GitHub
Bottom line: If your work involves Docker, Node, Python, or anything that has ever caused a “works on my machine” bug, run it in WSL and edit from VS Code.
6. Windows Terminal, best modern terminal for Windows
Windows Terminal is the terminal Windows should have shipped with in 2015. Tabs, split panes, per-profile fonts and color schemes, a Quake-mode drop-down (Ctrl+Backtick), and one-click launchers for PowerShell, cmd, WSL, and Azure Cloud Shell. GPU-accelerated text rendering means 4K displays and 240Hz refresh rates stay smooth.
The settings.json file is the source of truth. Everything (key bindings, color schemes, startup actions) lives there in plain JSON that syncs across machines via Windows Backup or a dotfiles repo.
Where it falls short: the built-in shell experience is still standard PowerShell or cmd. To get modern conveniences like autocomplete, fuzzy history, and inline hints, add PSReadLine, Starship, or PowerShell 7 on top. It is not a shell replacement, only the window that hosts one.
Pricing:
- Free. MIT licensed.
Platforms: Windows 10 (October 2019 update or later) and Windows 11.
Download: Microsoft Store listing and Windows Terminal GitHub
Bottom line: The default terminal for any 2026 Windows dev setup. Pair with PowerShell 7 and Starship for a shell that matches macOS or Linux.
7. Visual Studio Code, best all-round editor
Visual Studio Code remains the default editor for most Windows developers, and it earns that position on Windows specifically because of how tightly it integrates with WSL, Remote SSH, and Dev Containers. The Remote WSL extension edits files inside a Linux distro as if they were local, with the language server running Linux-side and the UI staying Windows-side. Dev Containers reproduce a repo’s build environment in Docker automatically.
Copilot and Copilot Chat are optional add-ons; the base editor is Free MIT-licensed source with a Microsoft-branded binary. If the tracking bothers you, VSCodium is the same source rebuilt without telemetry.
Where it falls short: memory. A comfortable multi-window setup on a large monorepo will happily consume 4 GB of RAM. Extensions vary wildly in quality and each one adds startup time.
Pricing:
- Free (editor). Copilot from $10 per user per month.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux (native binaries for all).
Download: code.visualstudio.com and VS Code GitHub
Bottom line: The safest editor bet for a mixed Windows and WSL workflow. Install it with WinGet, install the Remote Development extension pack, then decide about Copilot.
8. Git for Windows, best version control setup
Git for Windows bundles git itself, a working OpenSSH client, the Git Bash shell, and the Git Credential Manager for GitHub, Azure DevOps, and Bitbucket. Installing it is the fastest way to get a Unix-style shell on Windows without touching WSL, useful when you only need to shell into a server or clone a repo quickly.
Credential Manager is the piece that quietly matters: it handles OAuth for GitHub, personal access tokens for Azure DevOps, and SSH key selection through the Windows Credential Store. Pair it with winget install Microsoft.Git and everything is set up before you finish your first coffee.
Where it falls short: the default line ending config (core.autocrlf=true) trips up cross-platform teams. Set it to input if you also work on WSL or Linux, or configure .gitattributes per repo.
Pricing:
- Free. GPL v2 (git) plus various component licenses.
Platforms: Windows 7 or later.
Download: git-scm.com/download/win and Git for Windows GitHub
Bottom line: Non-negotiable. Every developer needs git; Git for Windows is the correct way to install it if you are not using it from WSL.
9. PowerToys, best utilities Windows forgot to ship
PowerToys is Microsoft’s dumping ground for utilities that solve real problems Windows itself does not address. The developer-relevant ones: PowerToys Run (Alfred/Spotlight style launcher, Alt+Space), FancyZones (real window tiling), Keyboard Manager (system-wide key remap without a registry hack), Text Extractor (OCR on any screen region, Ctrl+Win+T), and the newer Advanced Paste that runs local LLM transforms on clipboard contents.
Peek (Ctrl+Space in Explorer) previews images, PDFs, and code files without opening them. Command Palette, added in 2025, is a Raycast-style command surface that plugs into other PowerToys modules and third-party extensions.
Where it falls short: many modules run background processes. On battery, disable the ones you don’t use. FancyZones conflicts with tools that manage windows the same way (like Komorebi), pick one.
Pricing:
- Free. MIT licensed.
Platforms: Windows 10 (2004 or later) and Windows 11.
Download: Microsoft Store (PowerToys) and PowerToys GitHub
Bottom line: Install after WinGet and Windows Terminal, in that order. FancyZones alone justifies it.
How to pick
- If you want the simplest possible new-machine setup: write a Windows Dev Configs YAML with your 15 favorite apps and never manually install anything again.
- If you cannot get admin rights on your work laptop: Scoop, then VS Code, then WSL 2 (WSL needs a one-time admin install but the distros do not).
- If you already invested in Chocolatey scripts: keep them. WinGet and Chocolatey coexist fine; you do not need to migrate.
- If your workflow is 80 percent Linux: WSL 2 with Ubuntu 24.04, VS Code Remote WSL, and Windows Terminal. Skip most native Windows dev tools entirely.
- If you want a Windows setup that behaves like macOS: PowerToys Run for Spotlight, FancyZones for tiling, Windows Terminal with Starship prompt, and PowerShell 7.
- If you hate the WinGet CLI: run it once,
winget configure --file dev.yaml, and never look at it again.
FAQ
Is Windows Dev Configs the same as WinGet configure?
Yes. Windows Dev Configs is the branded name Microsoft uses for the winget configure command and its ecosystem. Under the hood it is PowerShell Desired State Configuration wrapped in a WinGet subcommand.
Do I still need Chocolatey if I have WinGet?
No, not for a fresh setup in 2026. WinGet covers the same ground with a similar CLI and better first-party support. Keep Chocolatey only if you already have working scripts or you need a package that only lives in the Chocolatey community repo.
Should I run everything in WSL or install tools on Windows directly?
Depends on what you build. Web, backend, and cloud native work is faster and more portable in WSL. Windows or .NET desktop work belongs on native Windows. Most developers end up with both, and Visual Studio Code with the Remote WSL extension makes switching invisible.
What is the fastest way to set up a new Windows dev machine?
If you have a Dev Configs YAML from a previous machine, run winget configure --file dev.yaml and go for coffee. If starting from scratch, install WinGet’s App Installer from the Microsoft Store, then run winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal Microsoft.VisualStudioCode Git.Git Microsoft.PowerToys and build up from there.
Does WinGet work offline or behind a corporate proxy?
Yes to both. Use winget download on a connected machine to grab installers, then move them to the offline machine and winget install --manifest. For proxies, set HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables before running WinGet.
Is there a Homebrew equivalent for Windows?
Scoop is the closest in philosophy: user-space, no admin, portable installs. WinGet is closer to APT: system-wide, admin-required, official first-party tool. Most developers eventually run both and let them handle different classes of software.
