Chocolatey is a Linux-like package manager which can automatically download, install or update your favourite applications. It's a PowerShell-based command line tool, but don't let that put you off just yet - it's simpler than you might think.

To get started, there's no need to click the Download link -just paste the text in the box below into a command prompt (copy it to the clipboard, launch cmd.exe, right-click in the window, select Paste) and press Enter.

The Chocolatey code should now download automatically, while status messages keep you up-to-date with the installation process. And when it's done, close and reopen the command window and you're ready to go.

Installing programs is now as simple as using the "cinst" command. Would you like a copy of Skype, for instance? Type "cinst skype" (less the quotes), press Enter, and Chocolatey will handle the rest. Or try "cinst keepas" to install KeePass Password Manager, "cinst procexp" for Process Explorer, "cinst gimp" for the GIMP image editor, and more. (Enter "clist" at the command line for the full list of packages, or use "clist | clip" to copy the list to the clipboard).

This isn't just a matter of downloading an installation file and leaving you to do the rest, either. If a program needs something else installing before it'll work, Chocolatey will grab that first. And as long as the application allows it, installation is silent - there's no working your way through some tedious setup program.

Better still, Chocolatey can also handle updates for you. So if you need the latest version of Firefox, just enter "chocolatey update firefox" (or "cup firefox" for short) and it'll be downloaded and installed.

Or, if you really want to save time, using "cup all" will check everything you've installed via Chocolatey and update it to the latest version.

Plainly the command line approach here is still a hassle, but the key is that it's scriptable. If you want to set up a PC to your specifications, then you could create a batch file with the appropriate "cinst" commands (as you've seen, they're not exactly complicated), and that's it. Once Chocolatey is installed on the target system, run the batch file and all the programs you need will be downloaded and installed. Add another shortcut to run updates - or maybe a batch file which you have Task Scheduler run once a day - and suddenly your software maintenance has become a whole lot easier.

What's new in 0.12.1? Read the changelog for more info.