Windows 10 is getting a new terminal for command-line users, Microsoft announced at its Build developer conference today. The new so-called “Windows Terminal” will launch in mid-June and promises to be a major update of the existing Windows Command Prompt and PowerShell experience. Indeed, it seems like the Terminal will essentially become the default environment for PowerShell, Command Prompt and Windows Subsystem for Linux users going forward. The new terminal will feature faster GPU-accelerated text rending and “emoji-rich” fonts, because everything these days needs to support emojis, and those will sure help lighten up the command-line user experience. More importantly, though, the Windows Terminal will also support shortcuts, tabs, tear-away windows and theming, as well as extensions. It also will natively support Unicode and East Asian fonts. The idea here, Microsoft says, is to “elevate the command-line user experience on Windows.” The first preview of the new Windows Terminal is now available.<doc-sep>Microsoft today announced a new application for command-line users called "Windows Terminal," a new updated command-line tool for Windows 10 that offers a rich user interface theme, allowing users to customize their experiences. If you're a PowerShell, Windows Subsystem for Linux, or CMD user, you'll appreciate the new Windows Terminal. The new Windows Terminal will be available this June and will feature tab support which is something that was confirmed to be in the works a few weeks ago after Windows Sets was rumored to have been killed. From Microsoft's official blog post: Windows Terminal [is] a new application for Windows command-line users [that] will offer a user interface with emoji-rich fonts and graphics-processing-unit-accelerated text rendering. It also will provide multiple tab support as well as theming and customization, allowing users to personalize their Terminal. Microsoft demoed the new Windows Terminal app at Build 2019, along with other announcements such as conversational AI for Cortana, and new Chromium Edge features. Cheap PC accessories we love Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience. Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub ($10 at Amazon) Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports. Ikea Fixa Cable Management System ($11 at Amazon) This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional. NZXT Puck ($20 at Amazon) This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.<doc-sep>Did you want a flashy Terminal with an opaque background and emojis? Were you itching for more Linux in Windows 10? Microsoft delivered on both fronts this week at its annual Build developers conference. Terminal is easily the more unique announcement, because we tend to forget about it until we need to change something with the system directly. It’s an old, outdated access point for direct control of the machine, and Microsoft is trying to make it cool. We’ll say Microsoft’s new Terminal concept makes it more like an IDE. It has a flashy new look with an opaque background, supports tabbed windows, and uses a “GPU accelerated DirectWrite/DirectX-based text rendering engine” (Microsoft’s words). This engine supports “text characters, glyphs, and symbols present within fonts on your PC, including CJK ideograms, emoji, powerline symbols, icons, programming ligatures,” and more. (Microsoft is also launching a new monospaced font for Windows, which it says will look great in Terminal. No news on that front, yet.) Terminal is also highly customizable, even for windowed experiences. You can create a unique look and feel for each window, depending on what you’re doing. Terminal supports PowerShell, Command Prompt, Ubuntu, and SSH; you can have a plain white text on black background for Command Prompt windows, for instance, and a green theme for Ubuntu windows. Microsoft also open-sourced Terminal, so you can download and tinker with it if you like. It will be released to Windows Store sometime this summer. Microsoft, Windows, and Linux Now Microsoft embraces the Linux community, and for the first time will include a full Linux kernel in a Windows build. It will launch this Summer with a Windows Insider version of Windows 10. (We’re a long way from the days when Microsoft executives such as Steve Ballmer claimed open-source was a cancer.) It’s a custom Linux kernel, developed by Microsoft for use with its Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). “The kernel itself will initially be based on version 4.19, the latest long-term stable release of Linux,” writes Jack Hammons, Program Manager at Microsoft. “The kernel will be rebased at the designation of new long-term stable releases to ensure that the WSL kernel always has the latest Linux goodness.” As Hammons also notes, the WSL kernel will support CI/CD, and will be serviced via the Windows Update program. Microsoft also plans to keep its kernel compliant with the latest features and fixes of the Linux kernel proper. It can be downloaded via the Windows Store, too. The goal seems to be a tighter workflow for Windows and Linux. The kernel itself doesn’t appear to add anything meaningful to the Linux experience, but a bespoke WSL kernel for use with WIndows should improve the Linux Subsystem on Windows. Microsoft says it plans to open-source its kernel, but will wait until the summer, when it is released with a Windows Insider build.<doc-sep>Microsoft announces Windows Terminal, a new customizable command line with tabs, and WSL 2 Windows users have missed out on a fully featured terminal program built into the OS for years. Command Prompt was used as an alternative and while it has served people well for years Windows 10 put more of emphasis on the Windows PowerShell. They even went as far as to replace the right-click context menu option with PowerShell instead of the Command Prompt with Windows 10. Today, Microsoft has announced a new command line program called Windows Terminal with the goal of it being the central location for accessing these types of command line programs. Google I/O 2019 will be happening later this week, but Microsoft’s Build 2019 developer conference is happening right now. Today, the Seattle-based technology giant announced a number of new tools for developers who use Windows including Windows Terminal, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2, XAML Islands, React Native for Windows, and MSIX Core. Windows Terminal has received a lot of attention since it was announced and it is currently available as a preview right now. The user interface of Windows Terminal from Microsoft offers GPU-accelerated text rendering, theming support, tabs, tear-away windows, shortcuts, full Unicode support, including East Asian fonts, and more. Windows Terminal will see a wider release in June (as of its current schedule) and is meant for users of PowerShell, Cmd, WSL, and other command-line applications. WSL2 was also announced today and is said to be based on a Linux 4.19 kernel, which is shipped with the latest Windows build. We’re told the kernel uses tech built specifically for Azure and should help to reduce Linux boot time while also streamlining memory use. Microsoft has even gone as far as to promise twice the speed for WSL2 when it comes to file-system heavy operations. The new update to WSL will also support running Linux Docker containers natively too, which is huge news. You will no longer have to run VMs in order to run a Docker container. WSL2 is also slated for a June release date as well.<doc-sep>
Microsoft is launching a new command line app for Windows, dubbed Windows Terminal. It’s designed to be the central location for access to environments like PowerShell, Cmd, and the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Microsoft is adding multiple tab support alongside theming and customization for developers who want to tweak the Terminal app. Windows Terminal will also support emoji and GPU-based text rendering. This text rendering is DirectX-based, and it will display text characters, glyphs, and symbols that are available on your PC including CJK ideograms, emoji, powerline symbols, icons, and programming ligatures. Microsoft unveiled the new Windows Terminal app during the company’s Build developer conference today. The software giant is planning to make it available in mid-June, and it marks Microsoft’s latest efforts to improve the developer environment on Windows 10. The Windows Terminal will also be fully customizable with profiles. You’ll be able to create multiple profiles for each app, shell, or tool that you import into Windows Terminal. That can be PowerShell, cmd prompt, SSH, or Ubuntu. Each profile can have its own color theme, background blur level, font style, and size. It’s a lot of customization to make the Windows Terminal work for most devs. Microsoft also previously added the Linux command line to Windows 10 alongside adding native OpenSSH to the operating system and even listing Ubuntu in the Windows Store. While the new Windows Terminal will be available next month, Microsoft has posted the source code to GitHub. That means you can build a copy of Windows Terminal and use the app a little early before it’s available in the Windows Store. Update May 7th, 10AM ET: Article updated with links to the GitHub Windows Terminal download.