Microsoft recently announced the release of Windows Terminal. This new terminal application is meant for command-line users and includes tons of new features requested by community members.
For those who use command-line tools and shells including Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL, Windows Terminal aims to provide a fast, efficient, and feature-rich experience.
The app is expected to launch in the Microsoft Store and Windows 10. Early adopters can expect previews to become available this summer, with a more complete version expected to release in the winter. Additionally, you can access open source versions of Windows Terminal and Windows Console on GitHub so you can clone, build, run, and test code there.
If you’re interested in Windows Terminal or command-line offerings, here are some of the features of this new offering:
Multiple tabs
The ability to support multiple tabs has been the most requested feature from the command-line community. With Windows Terminal, you can open any amount of tabs and have them all connected to a command-line shell or app like Command Prompt, PowerShell, or a Raspberry Pi via SSH.
Text rendering options
Windows Terminal uses a GPU accelerated DirectWrite/DirectX-based text rendering engine that works quickly displays text characters, glyphs, and symbols that are present within any fonts on your PC. These can include powerline symbols, icons, emoji, and programming ligatures. Microsoft is also releasing a new font that you can use with this engine. It’s a monospaced font that includes programming ligatures.
Settings and configurations in Windows Terminal
The application also provides plenty of options for command-line users who want to customize their terminals and applications. You can change the appearance of shells or profiles that you open as new tabs. You can also create multiple profiles for each shell, app, or tool that you use, each with their own combination of fonts, backgrounds, and color themes.
Images: Microsoft
