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What's new in v2

High Level​

  • No mandatory admin privileges
  • Modern workflows without symlinks
  • Version pinning — .nvmrc, .node-version, package.json, or user-defined files
  • Faster downloads and installations
  • Automatic installation of missing Node.js versions
  • Developer and Enterprise-ready
  • Fully rewritten for speed & maintainability — Go and Zig
  • Dual Builds — Community (MIT) & Certified (EULA)
Code Signing Change
  • Community builds are not code signed.
  • Certified builds are 100% code-signed.

All signatures show "Author Software Inc" as the publisher. Project stewardship transfered to Author Software Inc, but remains managed by the same people.

Community & Certified Builds​

Certified Builds

Available September 2026.

The Community build remains free and open-source (MIT). Certified builds add signed installers, optional Trust Artifacts, Advanced Logging, and Governance add-ons, and related controls (see Choosing an Edition).

Node.js Installation​

  • Parallel installations — install multiple Node.js versions at once
  • Smaller downloads (40%) — uses compact .7z archives
  • Native extraction — faster installs with fewer external unpacker dependencies
  • Local air-gapped downloads — install from a local archive directory when offline or restricted (see Local Installations, Air-gapped Installations)
  • Caching — reuse downloaded/extracted assets on repeat installs (Download Cache)
7-zip

While not required, NVM for Windows uses native 7-Zip for extraction if it is installed. 7-Zip's proprietary algorithms provide the fastet extraction speed. 7-Zip is free to download.

A slower embedded extractor is used if 7-Zip is not available.

Operating modes​

The biggest functional change is the introduction of operational modes.

  • Lightweight shims: Zig-built shims for Node and related tooling commands (npm, npx, etc)
  • Zero-latency link mode: junction/symlink PATH model when shim interception is not needed

Shim mode unlocks per-directory version switching and other automation. Link mode remains for legacy use while bypassing the esoteric permission models from v1.

Automation​

  • Per-directory version switching — select Node from the current directory (for example .nvmrc) in shim mode (Version resolution)
  • Auto-install missing versions — install a required version when a project needs one that is not present yet
  • Auto-install default global modules — optionally install a defined set of globals with each new Node.js version

Preferences​

Native Windows integrations​

  • Windows Apps — installed Node.js versions appear in Apps & features (Windows Apps)
  • Windows Event Viewer — operational events in Event Viewer (Event Logging)
  • Desktop Notification Center — updates and notices in the Windows notification center (Desktop Notifications)
  • Windows Registry — user preferences stored under registry keys (Windows Registry)

Security and governance​

(Governance add-on)

Trust artifacts and observability​

  • SBOM, provenance, and VEX (Trust Artifacts add-on) — supply-chain trust materials with release packs (Choosing an Edition)
  • Fully auditable native logging (Advanced Logging add-on) — structured logging for SIEM/audit (Event Logging, Choosing an Edition)