Windows Terminal is now the default console in Windows 11

Windows Terminal has become the windows 11 default console in the latest ‘Dev’ channel build just released by Microsoft for the Insiders test group.

The move was announced. Microsoft defined Windows Terminal as the “ultimate” tool to work with the different command line applications active in its operating systems (CMD and Powershell) and the change is simple, but logical. So starting with the latest development build of Windows 11 if you start a command line app or PowerShell script it will run in Windows Terminal.

What is Windows Terminal and what is it used for

For those unfamiliar with this tool, Windows Terminal was the new command line tool that Microsoft announced at the BUILD 2019 developer conference. It falls within that group of advanced applications that Microsoft has been producing with system administrators in mind. developers and more advanced users who may be left ‘short’ the Windows that is offered by default, very focused on interaction with the graphical interface. And yes, “inspired” by Linux, like Windows Terminal even in its name.

Windows Terminal is an application of open source and free available in the Microsoft Store and on GitHub (where the source code is also included) developed externally to Windows and therefore can receive individual updates and improvements without having to wait for regular Windows updates. And in fact, it has been receiving features and improvements since its launch.

Microsoft’s idea was and is clear. If the Windows console ‘also exists’ and is an excellent option for medium/advanced users and administrators to perform tasks in the operating system in a more flexible and faster way, this new tool has the ability to use the rest of its developments. type present in Windows.

Windows Terminal can handle both the symbol of the system (the basic interpreter used starting with Windows NT) like PowerShellthe advanced console that launched Windows Vista and that, in addition to the possibilities of the command prompt, offers a greater number of possibilities since it allows you to create your own commands and scripts using the C# programming language.

Last but not least, Windows Terminal can also run separate tabs for WSL2, the second generation of the Linux subsystem for Windows that Microsoft announced at the same time as Windows Terminal, created to better support Linux distributions and applications. Both are related and are intended to ensure that users who need to use the free system (especially developers) do not have to leave Windows.

And in the case of Windows Terminal, provide the system with a somewhat more user-friendly command line tool, well integrated with the Windows 10 and 11 interface, which can run the rest of its type of applications while maintaining the features of this type of software for some types of advanced tasks that are either not capable of being executed from the graphical interface or that are performed more quickly or efficiently.

Although Windows Terminal has been released as default in Windows 11, the user will be able to modify this behavior in the developer options present in the general Configuration tool if he prefers to continue using the CMD or Powershell directly.