Stefan Mileschin

Forget the Command Prompt. Microsoft is launching a new command line application named “Windows Terminal.” It features tabs and themes, with centralized access to PowerShell, the classic Cmd environment, and Bash via Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL.)

Windows had long had an inferior command line environment compared to other operating systems. Windows 10’s WSL, which lets you run Bash and other Linux shells, is great. But it’s based on the old Windows Console, as seen in the Command Prompt. These windows don’t have tabs, a feature Linux and Mac terminal windows have had for a very long time. With the failure of Sets, it looks like the classic console windows won’t be getting them.

Microsoft has been working hard on improving the old Windows Console for years. Microsoft has added a variety of “experimental console features” like Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste, which are disabled by default. After all, they might break legacy applications using the old Command Prompt. Microsoft even swapped the console color scheme with a new, more readable one. Microsoft worked hard on adding unicode support to the existing console environment. Microsoft added support for VT codes so complex Linux apps like tmux would be usable.

With today’s announcement, Microsoft is announcing a new application named the Windows Terminal. It will include multiple tabs along with themes and other customization features. The Windows Terminal uses GPU-based text rendering and even supports emoji. It includes tabs so you can open Cmd, PowerShell, and WSL consoles in a single window.

https://www.howtogeek.com/413527/win...-command-line/