Recently, I found the need to use Anaconda Python from a more sophisticated shell than CMD.exe. If for no other reason than getting a shell that was easier on the eyes, I offered $100 to /r/PowerShell to get it done.

The community followed through and we built a pretty good replica of Anaconda’s activate.bat.

Our Solution

Our solution was good, but lacking in some areas including:

Configuring anything but the base environment via pip , easy_install , or conda install .

, , or . Interoperability with activate.bat .

. Virtualizing programs other than Python.

Looking Forward

Thankfully, this solution satisfied me while out of town, and I was able to get back to my Linux box. Eventually, our efforts got the attention of the core developers at Anaconda, who pointed out really well-developed solutions here. The core devs also mentioned that Powershell was in their roadmap. Hopefully, Powershell is officially supported by Anaconda before I need it again.

The Best Solution