Windows Terminal arrives?

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WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie Microsoft’s Windows Terminal is not a new thing, but it arrived by stealth in Windows 11. It’s quite a change. Windows Termi
[See the full post at: Windows Terminal arrives?]

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lmacri, Sueska, fisher75, KB6OJS, Cybertooth, jburk07, windbg, DLivesInTexas, abbodi86

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Another shoved quarter-baked product 🙂

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Alex5723

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It’s been available open-source for nearly five years.

What’s wrong with it?

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Will Fastie

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b wrote:

What’s wrong with it?

For me the question is, “What use do I have for it?”  The answer being “None”, I promptly replaced it with Command Prompt.  Haven’t seen it since.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Charlie

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Terminal is great, I use it all the time now.

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Will Fastie wrote:

On my Windows 11 system (Obsidian), KB5026435 is not shown in the update history.

Because that was a Windows 10 update.

Windows 11 got Windows Terminal as default with version 22H2.

Will Fastie wrote:

Windows 11 23H2 was installed in November, but I’m certain I’ve used CMD since then. Whatever enabled Windows Terminal came recently.

Windows Terminal as default required version 1.15 or above:

❗In order for this behavior to take effect, you’ll need to be running Windows Terminal version 1.15 or greater.
Windows Terminal is now the Default in Windows 11

If you had disabled automatic Store updates, perhaps your Windows Terminal application was only recently updated? (It’s 1.19 now.)

Will Fastie wrote:

It’s not clear to me how Windows decides, because I have not tested every available CLI. If you know, please mention it in the forum.

I think “Let Windows decide” just means use the default Terminal default, which is Windows Terminal.

Most Windows 11 users have had Windows Terminal as the default for 16 months:

b wrote:

Yes, the default command line application (console/terminal) changed from Command Prompt to Windows Terminal:

Windows Terminal is now the Default in Windows 11

Windows Terminal becomes new default command line tool in Windows 11

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Will Fastie

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I’ve had Terminal on both my office PCs since Windows 11 was publicly released, and I upgraded from 10 Pro to 11 Pro.

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Hey Y’all,

Here’s my experience:
Edition: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Version: 2009 22H2
Build: 22621.3007
Installed: 10/15/2023 17:42

Typing from the Start-All-Back search box:
Command – I get terminal
Cmd.exe – I get terminal

However, running a scheduled task from a shortcut to get an Admin level command prompt I get the old interface.

Here’s the command in task scheduler: “C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe”

If I enter that into the search box I get Terminal…go figure.

But wait there’s more…

If I enter Cmd or Command into the search box then right-click on the result and select run as administrator I get the old interface.

That’s not saying much for Microsoft testing, OH wait we’re the testers aren’t we?

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
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Cybertooth, Will Fastie

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Terminal cannot be hooked if cmd or powershell are executed as Admin
https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/issues/10276#issuecomment-852215012

which is a good thing (for now) to avoid missing with batch or powershell scripts not aware of the terminal joke

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jburk07, windbg

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It was in the default Win+X menu from day One: Terminal and Terminal (Admin).

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Will Fastie

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Windows 10 22H2.
If I type ‘Terminal’ in the search box I get ‘Terminal Settings’ which opens ‘For Developers’

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Windows Terminal in no way “arrived by stealth” in Windows 11. It’s been the default in Windows 11 since RTM. I quite like it.

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https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/windows-terminal-is-now-the-default-in-windows-11/

Not since RTM.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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b wrote:

If you had disabled automatic Store updates, perhaps your Windows Terminal application was only recently updated?

I have not disabled automatic store updates, but I didn’t get Terminal that way.

b wrote:

(It’s 1.19 now.)

When I check the About dialog in Terminal it shows me 1.18, checks for updates, and does not push anything to me. 1.20 is also available in preview mode.

b wrote:

I think “Let Windows decide” just means use the default Terminal default, which is Windows Terminal.

Probably, but then how is that different from just setting Terminal as the default? Why not have just the two options?

b wrote:

Because that was a Windows 10 update.

I know, but I went looking for it anyway. Microsoft’s posts are not always complete or accurate.

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Will Fastie wrote:

I have not disabled automatic store updates, but I didn’t get Terminal that way.

I thought you don’t know how you got it? 😕

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Will Fastie

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RetiredGeek wrote:

If I enter Cmd or Command into the search box then right-click on the result and select run as administrator I get the old interface.

That’s clearly the designed behavior, and for PowerShell, too.

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Wisewiz wrote:

It was in the default Win+X menu

I completely missed it, from day one. I so rarely use that menu that I don’t notice changes.

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b wrote:

I thought you don’t know how you got it?

Uh huh. Nice jab. I don’t know how it was installed, but I do know that I did not actively download and install it from the store.

Of course, I suppose it’s possible that Microsoft is randomly downloading stuff from the store to my PC without telling me. After all, we’re all getting silent updates that keep surprising us.

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Cybertooth

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I occasionally invoke cmd.exe on my Windows 11 PC. What I see there is the new user interface that Will Fastie reports. Being unaware that Microsoft had changed the default to Terminal, my reaction to the new UI was that entirely too much effort had gone into fancifying what to me had always been a perfectly serviceable interface. Talk about make-work projects. Really, why would I spend a fraction of a second even thinking about setting the launch size of a new Terminal window?

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Charlie, Will Fastie

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Will Fastie wrote:

WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie Microsoft’s Windows Terminal is not a new thing, but it arrived by stealth in Windows 11. It’s quite a change. Windows Termi
[See the full post at: Windows Terminal arrives?]

Windows Terminal is great, and I do use it from time to time, but my greatly-preferred alternative to the Command window is Take Command (TCMD).

TCMD mainly works as a shell to give you multiple tabs of their actual command-prompt window, TCC.  The command language is massively extended with a lot of new commands, plus extensions to existing CMD commands.

There is a free version of TCC available – actually a somewhat older version of the current TCC – and there are fully-capable versions of TCC and TCMD available for download, which work for 30 days from the date of first use (i.e., you can install it on Monday and run it for the first time on Friday, so your 30-day trial period starts from Friday).

Visit http://www.jpsoft.com for more information.

//Stevve//

{Disclaimer: I don’t work for JPSoft, nor do I receive compensation for making this recommendation.  I’m simply a long-time satisfied customer.}

 

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Cybertooth wrote:

Talk about make-work projects.

Not that I like overly praising Microsoft, but look at it from their perspective. Why maintain one CLI for each possible shell when all those apps probably share 80%+ common code? And why not develop it such that other CLIs can be added as desired?

It seems smart to me. And I appreciate having the same app for dealing with PowerShell.

Cybertooth wrote:

Really, why would I spend a fraction of a second even thinking about setting the launch size of a new Terminal window?

Personal preference, obviously, but years ago, when cmd.exe started getting smarter and more configurable, I set the fonts, colors, and sizes, then used it that way for a long, long time. I think my fraction of a second paid dividends.

That’s one thing I would have done that Microsoft didn’t – look for CMD and PowerShell settings in those consoles and automatically apply them to Terminal. Then I would not have had to spend those few seconds again.

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Cybertooth

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Whenever I’m using cmd.exe, I get a sense of nostalgic delight at feeling like I’m back in MS-DOS times. (Even though I know that it’s not the “real” MS-DOS.)

As a non-techie PC user, to me all those other CLI-type alternatives such as PowerShell and such never meant much, and I was fine with them looking vastly different from cmd.exe so that I’d know at a glance if I was in the right place.

Each to his own…

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Hi Will:

I am concerned that, upon bringing up Windows Terminal, I get the impression that my PC my by hijacked and infected.  Pls see the attached view.

What do you think about this?

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You are not logged in. As a Guest (not logged in user) you cannot attach a file.

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Will Fastie

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Cybertooth wrote:

nostalgic delight

I get that. I’ve been carrying around a folder called “util” since the mid-’80s that contains 1,500 files. There are at least 500 batch files and close to that same number of tiny utility programs that worked through Windows 7. I found most of them useful right through Windows 7, and then poof.

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Charlie, Cybertooth

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Why does it seem that Msft. is copying things from Linux.  Linux has had Terminal for many years.  Msft continues to mess things up.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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I don’t see how they’re “messing things up” with Terminal. It’s just an easier way of accessing more than one console at a time. I also really like the fact you can have cmd, PowerShell and WSL in the one window at the same time.

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b

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https://support.microsoft.com/help/5020574

“You might experience compatibility issues with apps, especially those that try to blend graphical elements with text mode elements.”

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-11/windows-11-new-tabbed-command-prompt-breaks-bat-file-output/m-p/3734367

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Sueska, Cybertooth

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I suppose adding PS ISE or VSC to terminal’s menu is not possible or not easily possible?

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Sueska wrote:

I suppose adding PS ISE or VSC to terminal’s menu is not possible or not easily possible?

PowerShell ISE continues to be available and will be supported indefinitely for security fixes, but it is no longer actively developed. It supports PS up to version 5; Microsoft is now at version 7. I cannot imagine Microsoft making any effort to support PS ISE in Windows Terminal.

The recommended replacement for PS ISE is Visual Studio Code with the PowerShell extension. That’s what I use. VSC has its own built-in terminal, which is very flexible.

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Sueska

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Thank you Will. Yes on your previous recommendation I have installed PS & and VSC and really like the VSC interactive scripting environment. PS 7 was added to my Windows Terminal menu list, but not VSC. I just discovered that just typing “code” without the quotes into PowerShell opens the VSC environment, so there is no need for it to be in the Terminal menu. I am sure you already knew, but for me the following was new knowledge. Typing “cmd” without quotes into powershell and “powershell” without quotes into the command environment allows you to go into the other environment.

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Will Fastie

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I like the ability to choose either PowerShell, Command Prompt, or Windows Subsytem for Linux from one location with a right-click on the Terminal icon (I don’t use Azure Cloud Shell, but it’s also a selection).

Terminal is much more customizable than old-school Command Prompt.

 

 

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I was very used to the tabbed interface in various terminal apps under Linux, and so welcomed Windows Terminal very quickly, especially with the automatic WSL integration.

I want/need to (and have not yet) key bindings to change/add the keyboard shortcuts so that I could make them the same in both environments (e.g. Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn to navigate between tabs, Shift-Ctrl-T to create a new default tab, etc., which have been in my muscle memory for a long time when using xfce-term, etc.)

It’s kind of like using ‘screen’ on Linux; I remember the most-often used ones… until I don’t — or rather, my muscle memory doesn’t. But it never seems urgent enough of a problem to get into the esoterica of changing the key bindings in that settings.json file. 😉

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Will Fastie

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