[ferventcoder]

Actually it depends on the package type. Chocolatey doesn't require an admin shell nor does it require PowerShell for packages that have the runtime executables embedded in the package. Those are known as portable packages.

The problem with a blanket statement for admin shell is that for almost everything you want to do with Windows, it requires administrative permissions to actually install things. So it's more that Windows requires admin permissions to run native installers like MSIs, InstallShield, InnoSetup, etc.

PowerShell is also been moved down to just an automated script install provider in choco. It will become optional once ScriptCS and others are supported as alternative automated script providers.