The Command Immediate is a no-nonsense command-line shell. You should use it to repeat information, script logic, and whilst a obtain supervisor. But it surely’s by no means been on par with its Unix counterparts. It had no tabs and no break up screens; only one black window at a time.
I used it for years, then moved to PowerShell once I wanted extra energy, although neither felt notably fashionable. PowerShell was highly effective, however missing. Home windows Terminal was launched in 2019, however I did not change till Microsoft made it the default in Home windows 11.
As soon as I attempted it, I spotted what I would been lacking. It handles all the pieces Command Immediate does, plus the workflow options that Linux customers have loved for many years.
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Multi-tab and break up panes
Nice for multitasking
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Home windows Terminal provides assist for a number of tabs, which is one thing Command Immediate by no means supplied. With the terminal open, press Ctrl + Shift + T to open a brand new tab, and Ctrl + Tab to modify between them. Every tab maintains its personal session, so you possibly can run a construct course of in a single tab whereas tailing logs in one other with out cluttering your taskbar with separate home windows.
That is not all. Home windows Terminal additionally provides break up panes, which let you divide a single tab into a number of panes. Press Shift + Alt + Minus (-) to separate horizontally or Shift + Alt + Equals (=) for a vertical break up.
When you press Shift + Alt + Arrow key, you possibly can alter pane sizes. Moreover, Alt + Arrow key strikes focus between panes. While you’re finished with a pane, Ctrl + Shift + W closes it cleanly.
In Command Immediate, reaching this meant arranging three separate home windows that by no means stayed put after a restart. Home windows Terminal remembers your structure preferences and makes multi-pane workflows usable.
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One terminal, many shells
All command-line instruments, together with CMD and PowerShell
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A pleasant facet about Home windows Terminal is that should you’re extra snug utilizing the basic cmd.exe or PowerShell, you possibly can launch them from the terminal app. It consolidates all of them, so command-line shells like Command Immediate, PowerShell, Git Bash, Azure Cloud Shell, and any WSL distributions all dwell in the identical utility.
Every software will get its personal profile with customized settings. Your PowerShell profile can use a distinct colour scheme and font out of your Command Immediate profile. The improved font rendering additionally means PowerShell modules like PSReadLine and Terminal-Icons show correctly with their syntax highlighting and file sort icons.
You may change between your profiles utilizing the Ctrl + Shift + 1, Ctrl + Shift + 2 shortcuts, and so forth. The dropdown menu exhibits all out there profiles, and you may set any shell as your default in Settings.
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Higher customization choices
Personalize with customized colours and themes
Home windows Terminal can also be nice for personalization. You may change the looks of the prompts, choose customized fonts, alter textual content measurement, and apply full themes. Whereas Command Immediate provides 16 colours and two fonts, Home windows Terminal helps any monospace font in your system and permits full RGB colour customization.
You may entry the Settings via the GUI or by enhancing the settings.json file instantly. This lets you set transparency with the opacity slider, add background pictures to profiles, alter padding for higher readability, and import neighborhood themes with a number of clicks. Every profile maintains unbiased look settings.
I exploit Cascadia Code for PowerShell with a darkish theme throughout longer scripting periods, however change to a high-contrast theme with bigger fonts once I’m sharing my display screen. Past simply wanting higher, these visible variations make it simpler to inform profiles aside at a look, which actually helps while you’ve obtained a number of tabs open aspect by aspect.
Command Immediate solely ever supported a few outdated monospace fonts, and it doesn’t render fashionable ones like Cascadia Code correctly. It additionally by no means had transparency or acrylic results. These got here with Home windows 10 model 1903 and later, and Home windows Terminal takes full benefit of them.
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Constructed-in assist for Linux
Works nice with Home windows Subsystem for Linux
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Home windows 10 and 11 allow you to run a Linux surroundings in your Home windows machine, courtesy of Home windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Home windows Terminal enables you to entry Ubuntu in the identical place as PowerShell, treating Linux distributions as a part of the working system reasonably than an add-on.
While you set up a WSL distro, Home windows Terminal routinely creates a profile for it. You may have Ubuntu, Debian, and Alpine tabs open alongside Home windows shells. Home windows Terminal helps clickable paths, and with WSL’s path translation, you possibly can simply transfer between Linux and Home windows file methods.
In Command Immediate, accessing WSL meant typing wsl and dropping your Home windows context fully. You could not simply copy paths between environments or keep visible consistency. Home windows Terminal makes WSL really feel native.
Why the change is smart
I’ve been utilizing Home windows Terminal day by day for over a 12 months, and now Command Immediate appears like opening Notepad when VS Code is true there. Simply having tabs makes a giant distinction, however including in higher font rendering, WSL, and straightforward profile switching makes it onerous to return.
Microsoft made Home windows Terminal the default in Home windows 11 for good motive. Command Immediate continues to be round for legacy scripts, however Home windows Terminal is the trendy surroundings to run it—together with PowerShell, WSL, and extra. When you spend any severe time on the command line, the change is value it.
