Chocolatey for Windows

Posted on One min read

I recently got a new computer (Dell Precision 5540) so I needed to re-install all the applications I use.

Typically I would go site-to-site downloading installation packages and then clicking through various “OK” and “I agree” buttons. However, I stumbled across Chocolatey which is a package manager for Windows - similar to something like apt-get or pip.

My experience so far has been very positive. I’ve been able to install VS Code, Miniconda3, Notepad++, Hugo, Firefox and a few other applications with no issue.

Installation syntax is very simple and straight-forward:
choco install firefox

You can choose a specific installation version with:
choco install hugo --version 0.64.3

You can find packages available for installation with:
choco find firefox

You can also see what packages are outdated (i.e. could be updated) with:
choco outdated

Finally you can choose to “pin” installations to a certain version to prevent them from being updated in the future:
choco pin add -n hugo