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Microsoft emits a colourful Windows Terminal preview

(2020/06/19)


The Windows Terminal gang has got back into its preview groove with an [1]update for the open-source command-line front-end.

Version 1.1 now allows fans to launch the app in the context of a selected folder with a right click from File Explorer as well as having it open at startup (unless disabled by organisation policy).

The visuals have also been tweaked, with a new fontWeight setting to make things a little lighter or heavier, depending on your preference (the team teased a lightweight version of Cascadia Code as an example) and the ability to rename tabs and select a colour. Alas, neither customisation stays in place between terminal sessions.

While there remains no GUI editor for the settings, those willing to get their hands dirty in the defaults.json will find a new compact setting for tabWidthMode to shrink every inactive tab to the width of an icon. Handy for clutterbugs addicted to dozens and dozens of open tabs.

Those who wish to remain in one tab can now hold down alt when clicking a profile to open a new pane in the current window rather than firing up a new tab.

The roadmap for Windows Terminal includes a settings editor for those tiring of the JSON format. Last night's update dealt with the whinging about trailing commas, but the team still ruefully [2]admitted : "Yes, we perhaps chose a poor configuration format given that we expected users to have to hand-edit it."

Not at all. Lovers of the command line are surely right at home when elbow deep in a JSON file and never happier than when wielding Emacs or Vim. Visual Studio Code, at a pinch. Not for them the fripperies of a GUI.

While not groundbreaking, this is a release containing handy usability touches, including support for the dragging and dropping of text from elsewhere and pastable addresses from File Explorer's "Copy Address" option.

The features should appear in the release version of Windows Terminal in July 2020, but in the meantime the preview version can be picked up from the normally moribund Microsoft Store. ®

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[1] https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/windows-terminal-preview-1-1-release/

[2] https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/releases

[3] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-8476/the-service-mesh-era-architecting-securing-and-managing-microservices-with-istio?td=wptl1956

Windows Terminal Preview

Dave Pickles

A preview of the end of Windows???

Open Cmd Here?

Richard 12

Finally. Such a thing has been requested by all since the heady days of NT.

Or maybe earlier? I'm a mere whippersnapper, after all.

Re: Open Cmd Here?

richardcox13

Would it interest you that this has existed in standard Windows 10 for ages?

In Explorer, navigate to a folder, and click on File: either cmd or PowerShell to open at the select folder (plus as administrator options).

Re: Open Cmd Here?

katrinab

And in Windows 8

Re: Open Cmd Here?

LDS

And in WIndows 7 - shift+right click....

Re: Open Cmd Here?

LenG

I can open a folder in powershell but not cmd. I'd like to set a right-click menu option to open in Cygwin Terminal but there doesn't seem to be a way to do that and there is no "Open With" on folders as opposed to files.

They read my mind

Chewi

I kid you not, I was literally thinking just yesterday that it would be really handy to have an "Open Terminal Here" option in Explorer just like Xfce has. Good job.

I'm getting old but..

Paul Johnston

There used to be something which allowed you to do that, it was some third party add-on if I remember.

Can any one put me out of my misery remind me what it was called?

Cheers

Re: I'm getting old but..

Stumpy

It was a native part of Windows, and was the context menu option 'Command prompt here'

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