SharePoint 2010 is the first version of SharePoint technologies in which Microsoft supports administration through PowerShell scripts. In SharePoint 2007, farm administrators use a command-line utility named STSADM.EXE to run interactive commands from the console window and to write DOS-style batch file scripts to automate common administrative tasks such as creating, backing up or restoring a new site collection.
Microsoft now recommends using the new PowerShell support for writing, testing and executing scripts that automate the same types of administrative tasks that you can accomplish using STSADM.EXE.
