I can answer #2, Techgeek.
NT currently supports .CMD scripts as well as scripting via the Windows Scripting Host.
For Longhorn, however, Microsoft will include a new .NET-based commandline called the Microsoft Shell (MSH). MSH will have its own standard (verb/noun) command syntax, but will allso include aliases for Unix and DOS/CMD for commands that have equivalents. For example: The MSH command, "get/children" has the Unix alias "ls" and the DOS/CMD alias "dir".
The commands in MSH are .NET dlls called cmdlets (commandlets). MSH will ship with several cmdlets, and ISVs and end-users can also add their own. Users can also add their own custom command aliases. The cmdlets can be pipelined to create custom functionality, and MSH passes around .NET objects, so you can take advantage of the properties and metadata inherent to each object.
The MMC will also support cmdlets as snap-ins, and output MSH script, so users new to MSH can see how the output changes as they make point/click changes in the MMC. They can also copy/paste the code from the MMC and (with adequate permissions) push that code out to the computers on the network to quickly make widespread changes.
http://www.gotdotnet.com/team/PDC/4118/ARC334.ppt
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