In Windows 10: Microsoft have finally updated the Console

July 30th, 2015 | Categories: Windows | Tags:

Due to the demands of my job and the fact that I like shiny new technology, I’m pretty much operating system agnostic these days. I find myself flitting between Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Android and iOS on a regular basis and find them all delightful and head-smackingly frustrating in equal measure.

One of my geeky guilty pleasures is taking some time out to kick the tyres of a new operating system and so I’m having a lot of fun with Windows 10 right now. I tend not to play with preview builds so all of this is new to me.

The Windows command prompt hasn’t seen much love in decades and yet it’s so important to the work I do. In Windows 10, it’s received a much needed update. Right at the top of the list are improvements to copy and paste. In older versions of windows, this is my workflow I go to a new machine:

  • Using CTRL-V, try to copy and paste into the command line. It doesn’t work. You get ^V appear instead
  • Sigh and mutter to yourself. Right click on the top of the window. Choose properties. Enable Quick Edit mode.
  • Press CTRL-V again. ^V appears. Press it a few more times ^V^V^V^V
  • Remember that in cmd.exe, unlike all other applications in Windows, the way to paste is to right click. Mutter again. Get on with life.

In Windows 10, quick edit mode is enabled by default and CTRL-V just works. Happy days!

There’s a whole host of other improvements including word-wrap, transparencies, the ability to resize the window and more. I feel like the Windows command prompt has taken its first step into a larger world.

Microsoft have also set up a discussion forum for the future of the Command Prompt.

 

 

  1. July 31st, 2015 at 13:31
    Reply | Quote | #1

    Or you could use the fully-featured command line environment TCMD from JP Software, as I have for years, and there is a free version called TCC/LE (https://jpsoft.com/tccle-cmd-replacement.html). But this is clearly less useful when you’re moving between different machines that don’t belong to you.