Windows Terminal was unveiled in 2019, and after a year in preview phase, it was released as an open source tool in 2020. Microsoft has announced that the Command Prompt in Windows 11 will be replaced by Windows Terminal.
The Redmond-based company has been making changes to its operating system, replacing legacy components, with modern ones. The most notable change is, of course, Control Panel, which has slowly but surely been superseded by the Settings app. Notepad recently got an overhaul, a much-needed one in my opinion. So, it’s not surprising that Microsoft wants to shift away from CMD to a modern equivalent with richer options.
The move towards making Windows Terminal as the default command line tool will begin with the Windows Insider Program. It makes sense, as feedback from users will be crucial, and will probably involve testing use-case scenarios, where CMD is normally used.
The announcement made by the company, first spotted by The Verge, states that Microsoft will enforce the change for all Windows 11 users in 2022.
What are the advantages of Windows Terminal over Command Prompt?
While Windows Terminal will primarily be useful for programmers, its functions are not necessarily limited to developers. All commands that are supported in Command Prompt, are also supported in Windows Terminal. So, if you’re familiar with the legacy tool, you’ll feel at home with its replacement. In addition to this, the tool also supports PowerShell, Azure Cloud Shell, and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), meaning it is quite versatile.
Interface-wise, Windows Terminal has significant advantages. It supports tabs and panes, you can work on multiple tabs or panes and switch between them easily like you were using a web browser. The command line shell also lets you rename tabs, duplicate them, set a color to the tab’s title bar, etc. The application does more, you can customize its appearance, color schemes, for a more personalized experience. I wish File Explorer supported these features.
Windows Terminal has a GPU accelerated text rendering engine, the command line shell includes support for Unicode and UTF-8 character support, HTML, RTF and Plain Text formatting. The tool can be used with special characters and emojis. Keyboard shortcuts are always nice to have.
Due to the fact that it is open source, anyone can contribute to the source code, track issues on GitHub. The utility is available at the Microsoft Store, which means it will get updates and new features faster than if it were to be patched via Windows Update. And it is compatible with Windows 10.
Will CMD be removed from Windows 11?
The fact that the announcement says that Windows Terminal will be the default experience, seems to suggest that Command Prompt will continue to exist, alongside PowerShell. It just won’t be the recommended option anymore. Maybe Microsoft will nag you to use Windows Terminal, like it does with Edge. If you don’t get it, you may to read this article for context.
It’s a little sad to wave goodbye to CMD, I’ll miss it. Have you used Windows Terminal?
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