Microsoft is working on a new terminal app for command-line users that will have plenty of new features including tabs, a GPU accelerated DirectWrite/DirectX-based text rendering engine, profiles, and more.
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The new Windows Terminal will be available this June. The app supports tools and shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL. Windows Terminal will be delivered via the Microsoft Store in Windows 10 and will be updated regularly, ensuring the user is always up to date and able to access the newest features and latest improvements with minimum effort.
Here are the key features of the new Windows Terminal app.
Multiple tabs
The app will support multiple tabs, allowing you to open any number of tabs, each connected to a command-line shell or app of your choice, e.g. Command Prompt, PowerShell, Ubuntu on WSL, a Raspberry Pi via SSH, etc.
Beautiful text
The Windows Terminal uses a GPU accelerated DirectWrite/DirectX-based text rendering engine. This new text rendering engine will display text characters, glyphs, and symbols present within fonts on your PC, including CJK ideograms, emoji, powerline symbols, icons, programming ligatures, etc. This engine also renders text much faster than the previous Console's GDI engine.
Also, the app will include a new monospaced font to enhance the modern look and feel of the Terminal. Not only will this font include programming ligatures, but it will also be open sourced and have its own repository.
Rich settings
Windows Terminal provides many settings and configuration options that allows changing the app's appearance and each of the shells/profiles that you can open as new tabs. Settings are stored in a structured text file making it easy for users and/or tools to configure.
Using Terminal’s configuration mechanism, you will be able to create multiple “profiles” for each shell/app/tool you want to use, whether it be PowerShell, Command Prompt, Ubuntu, or even SSH connections to Azure or IoT devices. These profiles can have their own combination of font styles and sizes, color themes, background blur/transparency levels, etc. You can now create your own custom-styled Terminal that is personalized to your unique taste!
Open source
The Windows Terminal and Windows Console have been made open source and you can clone, build, run, and test the code from the repository on GitHub: https://github.com/Microsoft/Terminal
This summer in 2019, Windows Terminal previews will be released to the Microsoft Store for early adopters to use and provide feedback.
The following video demonstrates the new app.
Source: Microsoft
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