Installation page seems dated: doesn't cover beyond win2k16, win10, ps5

carehart commented 3 months ago

Checklist

[X] Issue has a meaningful title
[X] I have searched the existing issues. See issues

Link to page

https://pester.dev/docs/introduction/installation

What is the issue?

As elaboration on the issue title, consider this paragraph (and section titles that follow): Compatibility Pester is compatible with every version of Windows that can run at least PowerShell 3. That includes: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and their respective Server versions 2016, 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2 and 2008.

Suggested fix?

Update page (this paragraph and sections that follow) for later versions, confirming those which are indeed supported (or if old versions of Windows or PS might no longer be supported).

fflaten commented 3 months ago

Thanks for the feedback. Pester v5 currently supports Windows PowerShell 3 and later.

If you'd like to contribute more, feel free to submit a PR to update the phrasing. We don't need to mention Windows OS-versions explicitly anymore, in my opinion.

carehart commented 3 months ago

But you wouldn't want me submitting that change without testing, right? I'm not committing to that or I'd have offered a pr. :-)

I raised it here instead, hoping perhaps someone concerned about the docs being (indeed, seeming) updated might be interested to hear the observation, and might endeavor to get it updated (rallying responsible parties, etc.)

I'm new here, first day visiting, just to give perspective.

fflaten commented 3 months ago

Apologies for being unclear. I sincerely appreciated the feedback and agree with your suggestion. 🙂

I simply wanted to encourage new contributors like yourself to submit a PR to help us improve the text. This is obviously voluntary and the docs will be updated regardless.

But you wouldn't want me submitting that change without testing, right?

In this case, yes. 🙂 PRs are reviewed before merging so there's no harm. I can confirm that Pester is supported on all Windows-versions compatible with Windows PowerShell 3.0 or later (source). No testing required nor expected.

carehart commented 3 months ago

OK, I gather you're saying "just go ahead and list the latest versions of Windows" (those not listed on the page already) and "we'll all assume it's good to go". I just wonder if that's wise. I hear you that Pester supports Powershell 3 and above. Does it work on a machine that runs powershell 5? or 7 (only)? If not, then such distinctions would need to be made.

And if you'd say "no, really, ANYTHING above 3 will work", I'll just say I wonder if that is (and will always be) true. In any case, I didn't want to cavalierly propose that change in versions supported, since I didn't know the answers to the above (both about how long PS3 is still supported/works, and whether Pester works ok with PS 7, for instance).

Not trying to be difficult, I promise. Just wanting to be accurate--especially if I am to be offering a change in text, especially such an important change. :-)

To repeat, my reason for raising the issue is that a newcomer to the project (like myself, because it's used by another tool I am consider) might be put off seeing such old Windows versions listed as if they were the "latest". It could discourage a prospective user of the project.

fflaten commented 3 months ago

PowerShell 3.0 and above works regardless of OS-version, as mentioned in Pester's README linked in my previous comment. PowerShell itself handles most of the OS-specific behavior to give modules a consistent environment.

We currently test every commit using CI against PowerShell 3.0, 4.0, 5.1 and 7 for Windows + 7 for MacOS and Ubuntu. If the OS is supported by PowerShell, it should be supported by Pester.

I'll just say I wonder if that is (and will always be) true

Any change to current requirements will require a major release and accompanying docs updates.

I will update the instructions soon, see related PR.

pester / docs