tl;dr: use scoop.

i’m a bit of a linux veteran at this point, so i am yearning for a command line so much that i use it to install software even on windows. cli-based package managers have great advantages like the ability to update all the software you install through them with a single command and basically no extra interaction required, which is just too convenient to give up.

windows has had chocolatey for a while, and there’s a microsoft-backed solution in winget, but both of them are a bit flawed as they install software the usual windows way, which requires privilege elevation for every bit of software going through the package manager, turning updates into a babysitting exercise. scoop is a great alternative to both that solves that shortcoming by installing all the software at user level, bypassing privilege elevation and ensuring hands-free installation experience in most cases.

not everything is served well by scoop, especially stuff that either specifically relies on admin privileges, or has auto-update baked in [discord, steam, etc.], but it is surprisingly solid for most stuff and does the job so well that it’s been a must have on my windows machines for years now.