What is the difference between Anaconda Prompt and Anaconda Powershell Prompt?

First, for everything from executing python related commands (python, ipython, jupyter, conda, etc.) to running Python scripts (e.g. python helloworld.py), there is no difference. So there is no worry ;)

And then, the only difference, as the name suggests, is the windows shell environment in which you running conda commands: cmd.exe (Command Prompt) vs powershell.exe.

Now let's talk a bit more about the difference: (reference)

Briefly, the cmd.exe is a simple shell introduced with Windows NT with the same basic syntax and functionality as DOS. It has relatively limited capabilities, especially when compared to Unix/Linux shells.

And PowerShell is a modern shell implementation with all sorts of extra goodies (e.g. commands colorful highlight).

So, in Anaconda Powershell Prompt, you can run some powershell commands like these:

> $PSVersionTableName                           Value----                           -----PSVersion                      5.1.18362.752PSEdition                      DesktopPSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}BuildVersion                   10.0.18362.752CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000WSManStackVersion              3.0PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1> $env:PATHC:\Users\user-name\anaconda3;C:\Users\user-name\anaconda3\Library\mingw-w64\bin;...

But in Anaconda Prompt, above commands would not be recognized, you can run this though:

>verMicrosoft Windows [版本 10.0.18363.815]

And under the hood, Anaconda Powershell Prompt and Anaconda Prompt just two shortcuts invoking different commands:

%windir%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -NoExit -Command "& '%USERPROFILE%\anaconda3\shell\condabin\conda-hook.ps1' ; conda activate '%USERPROFILE%\anaconda3' "

%windir%\System32\cmd.exe "/K" %USERPROFILE%\anaconda3\Scripts\activate.bat %USERPROFILE%\anaconda3

Windows offers two command line environments, the traditional "Prompt" (cmd.exe) and the newer "PowerShell". You can use Anaconda with either of these.

The documentation for Windows commands covers both.