Thanks Irfon-Kim for your research, but you're making this a lot harder than it needs to be. I'll try to redress the balance -- not that I'm claiming it's Windows-friendly.
Yes, you need to know several magic things to go this route.
The first is to have that link that Ben Gamari provided in the first
You don't need to install any extra tools, nor use a command line, nor have a bar of chocolatey. place, which is not an obvious thing at all. I think Ben gave the wrong link[**], and it's not obvious why you'd go to such an unfriendly page at all. Should be: https://www.haskell.org/ghc/download_ghc_8_10_1.html, section Windows 64-bit (x86_64). This is to download ghc-8.10.1-x86_64-unknown-mingw32.tar.xz https://downloads.haskell.org/~ghc/8.10.1/ghc-8.10.1-x86_64-unknown-mingw32.... it's not the 'unknown' that tells you it's Windows, it's the 'w' in 'w32'. I don't know why you're downloading a `.lz`: the `.tar.xz` is a format that Windows Explorer understands [***]; just use Explorer to find that in the Downloads folder; it needs several clicks to unpack it, but by all means unpack into the Downloads folder; navigate to `\bin`; there is ghci.exe; double-click. (No need to set your path, it'll default to `\bin`; no need to call from a command line.) Indeed you can copy ghci.exe and paste as shortcut on your desktop/taskbar; set the 'Start in' as the `\bin` folder. Now fair warning: this is only the ghci executable/base compiler; no libraries/packages; no cabal, no stackage. But at least a beginner can sit at a GHCi prompt and enter some expressions; they can call `:edit` to create a `.hs` module. They can `:set editor` for a more programmer-friendly editor. [**] How did I get to that download link? (Just to show there's nothing up my sleeves) * haskell.org -> Downloads -> Minimal Installers * -> 'the GHC compiler' in the section's opening sentence * you're at haskell.org/ghc/; latest release -> download * scan down the page for Windows I'm saying to ignore all that stuff about 'proper Haskell distribution'; 'Distribution packages' (not available for Windows). For a beginner it's all cruft; they can figure it out after they're using Haskell. Really this could all be a lot easier and a lot better explained and a lot more in-your-face for a beginner. I continue to take away the impression that ghc doesn't want beginners. [***] I agree a `.xz` needs 7-zip to unpack. I don't think I went so far as to obtain that first; I think it came with my Windows (8.1) install. Perhaps later Windows have it better integrated(?)