Both Remove-WindowsFeature and Uninstall-WindowsFeature serve the purpose of removing Windows features, but they belong to different PowerShell module generations:

# Windows Server 2008 R2 approach
Remove-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server

# Windows Server 2012+ approach
Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server

The key distinction stems from Microsoft's module restructuring:

• ServerManager module (2008 R2): Uses Add-WindowsFeature/Remove-WindowsFeature
• Dism module (2012+): Uses Install-WindowsFeature/Uninstall-WindowsFeature

While both commands achieve similar results, the newer version offers enhanced capabilities:

# Additional parameters in 2012+ version
Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name FS-FileServer -Restart -Remove

Important implementation notes:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 only supports the ServerManager module
• Windows 8/Server 2012 introduced the Dism module as replacement
• Some features may require different naming conventions between versions

When working across versions, consider this compatibility pattern:

# Version detection and command selection
if ((Get-WindowsFeature -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) -ne $null) {
    # Server 2012+ environment
    Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name XPS-Viewer
} else {
    # Server 2008 R2 environment
    Remove-WindowsFeature -Name XPS-Viewer
}

The behavioral differences you might encounter:

• Different return object structures
• Varying reboot requirement handling
• Alternative progress reporting mechanisms

For maintainable scripts:

1. Always specify the -Name parameter explicitly
2. Include error handling for version compatibility
3. Document which server versions your scripts support

try {
    Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name Telnet-Client -ErrorAction Stop
} catch [System.InvalidOperationException] {
    Write-Warning "Falling back to ServerManager module"
    Remove-WindowsFeature -Name Telnet-Client
}

The PowerShell cmdlets for managing Windows features have evolved significantly across different Windows Server versions. In Windows Server 2008 R2, administrators used:

Add-WindowsFeature
Remove-WindowsFeature

Starting with Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8, Microsoft introduced a new set of cmdlets:

Install-WindowsFeature
Uninstall-WindowsFeature

Remove-WindowsFeature simply removes the feature components from the system but keeps the installation files available in the component store (WinSxS folder). This allows for quick re-addition of the feature later.

Uninstall-WindowsFeature performs a more thorough removal by:

• Completely removing feature binaries from disk
• Cleaning up dependencies when possible
• Freeing up disk space by removing source files

Basic feature removal (Windows Server 2008 R2 style):

Remove-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -WhatIf
Remove-WindowsFeature -Name Telnet-Client -Restart

Modern feature uninstallation (Windows Server 2012+):

Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server -Remove
Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name XPS-Viewer -Confirm:$false

The -Remove parameter in Uninstall-WindowsFeature is particularly important:

# Keeps feature source files (similar to Remove-WindowsFeature behavior)
Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name PowerShell-ISE

# Completely removes feature including source files
Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name PowerShell-ISE -Remove

When writing cross-version scripts, you might need version detection:

$OSVersion = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version
if ($OSVersion -ge [Version]"6.2") {
    Uninstall-WindowsFeature -Name InkSupport
} else {
    Remove-WindowsFeature -Name InkSupport
}

• Always test feature removal in non-production first
• Use -WhatIf parameter to preview changes
• Consider using -Restart when dealing with features that require reboot
• Document removed features for future reference