`$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"` is very similar and does that for all of PS1 cmdlets. You still have to check $LastExitCode manually for BAT/EXEs, though.
`$PSNativeCommandUseErrorActionPreference = $true` is an experimental flag [1] as of PowerShell 7.3 that applies the same $ErrorActionPreference to BAT/EXEs (native commands), stopping (if $ErrorActionPreference is "Stop") on any write to stderr or any non-zero return value.
Having to handle exe's and bats separately is _exactly_ the problem with $ErrorActionPreference, and why it's not suitable.
I wasn't aware of $PSNativeCommandUseErrorActionPreference though, seems like it's very new. How does that work with the helpful windows tools that decide to not return 0 on success (hello, robocopy)
The answer to that, including robocopy as the direct example used, is at the bottom of that documentation I linked on $PSNativeCommandUseErrorActionPreference: you set it to $false before calling something like robocopy and then reset it when done.
5.1 was the last "Windows-specific"/"Windows-only" PowerShell (and is still branded "Windows PowerShell" more than "PowerShell") before it went full cross-platform (and open source). It's an easy install for PowerShell 7+ and absolutely worth installing. If you are using tools like the modern Windows Terminal and VS Code they automatically pick up PowerShell 7+ installations (and switch to them as default over the bundled "Windows PowerShell"), so the above command line really is the one and only step.
You can also install the latest PowerShell Core (the open-source, cross-platform releases we're talking about) via Scoop, which is a package manager for Windows that works even if you don't have admin rights: https://scoop.sh/#/apps?q=pwsh&s=0&d=1&o=true
Unless I can rely it being somewhat available, it's not really feasible to use. It's a bit like writing scripts in fish because it's easily installable - nobody is going to use it.
Winget isn't bundled with windows 10 either, (but I think it is with 11), and it's not on windows server.
If I need to install a package manager _and_ a shell, I might as well just install WSL and be done with it.
Winget is auto-installed in Windows 10 by Windows Update and/or Store Update for every copy of Windows 10 with a recent enough build for more than a year or two, so long as that machine doesn't have the Store disabled or blocked. It is bundled inside the "Application Installer Platform" which is a low-level Store package that powers a lot of little things like the "double-click to install an MSIX file" experience and Windows generally keeps up to date quickly if Store updates aren't blocked.
I can't speak to your usage of Windows Server, but provisioning winget and PowerShell 7+ are standard bootstrapping steps in VM images at places I work, because those are generally assumed to be basic equipment at this point.
`$PSNativeCommandUseErrorActionPreference = $true` is an experimental flag [1] as of PowerShell 7.3 that applies the same $ErrorActionPreference to BAT/EXEs (native commands), stopping (if $ErrorActionPreference is "Stop") on any write to stderr or any non-zero return value.
[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsof...