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Does anyone know of a good Command Prompt replacement? I've tried bash/Cygwin, but that does not really meet my needs at work because it's too heavy. I'd like a function-for-function identical wrapper on cmd.exe, but with highlighting, intellisense, and (critically) a tabbed interface. Powershell is okay, but the interface is still lacking.

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    BGShell. Tabbed frontend for PowerShell with intellisense, other goodies. Go. Now.
    – user1228
    Commented Aug 21, 2008 at 13:06

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Edited: I've been using ConEmu (http://conemu.github.io/) for quite some time now. This one is a wrapper too, since it is not really possible to replace the Windows console without rewriting the whole command interpreter. Below the line is my original answer for an earlier alternative.

Not exactly a replacement (actually, it's a prettifying wrapper) but you might try Console (http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/)

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    It's not really possible to replace cmd.exe. Because the Windows prompt has no interface layer. So you have to wrap it. Maybe Microsoft will get a clue and improve this for Windows 7.
    – mxcl
    Commented Nov 6, 2008 at 11:31
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    I come from the future. Windows 7 still has a cruddy console.
    – Blender
    Commented Nov 11, 2011 at 2:04
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    Console is the most recommended cmd.exe shell on AlternativeTo.net: alternativeto.net/software/windows-command-prompt-cmd/… (second only to cygwin :-P)
    – Greg Bray
    Commented May 22, 2012 at 16:23
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    I come from future, too. Windows 8 still has this crap.
    – ahmet alp balkan
    Commented Mar 7, 2013 at 21:42
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    I come from the present. Windows 10 does not solve this issue.
    – dgo
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 20:24
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I've been using JPSoft's products a long time (starting back with 4OS2 and 4DOS), and currently use Take Command 9. It works with existing batch files, has it's own improvements on top, a tabbed interface, and filename coloring options.

Looks like their site is having some problems right now, but you can find them at: http://jpsoft.com/

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  • I just tried Take Command 12.0. It seems quite buggy, unfortunately - it crashed on me and left some rogue processes locking files, running in the background, that required a reboot to get rid of. It seems to lack a lot of polish.
    – Contango
    Commented Mar 24, 2011 at 11:12
  • @Gravitas: I've been running 12 for a while now (skipped over 10, went to 11, then upgraded to 12 in November). I have not been having any of those problems.
    – crashmstr
    Commented Jun 21, 2011 at 12:28
  • also is not compatible with cmd scripting
    – mhstnsc
    Commented Nov 11, 2013 at 7:57
  • @MihaiStanescu If you use JPSoft's extensions, then no, those cannot be used with cmd.exe, but generally the other way around is fine, and if it does not work right, just run it under cmd.exe
    – crashmstr
    Commented Nov 11, 2013 at 12:55
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I use Take Command 9.0. I have used JPSoft's products for years. It has a tabbed interface. I have Take Command start with Take Command, Powershell, and CMD.exe each in their own tab. It doesn't do syntax highlighting. Take Command is syntactically compatible with CMD.exe and enhances each command quite a bit and adds many more.

PowerShell isn't a complete replacement for CMD.exe or Take Command. I find myself using both. You might ask why I would still use CMD.exe and it is because I will use Take Command to test a batch file that is limited to commands that work in CMD.exe and I then need to deploy the batch file on a workstation/server that doesn't have Take Command on it. I can create/test in Take Command and then verify it works in CMD.exe before deploying it.

I don't know of any IDE's that provide Intellisense for batch files specifically. If they did it would only be for a few keywords anyway. Most of the time in batch files you are running commands that are external to the batch language and wouldn't be included in the Intellisense.

I use Textpad to edit my batch files. Take Command has a debugger and it has logging capabilities which makes it very easy to test your batch files.

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  • I seem to remember the VB6 IDE having batch file "intellisense", like auto-completing ActiveX components. I could be imagining this, though.
    – Stephen Swensen
    Commented Mar 22, 2011 at 16:17
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PowerCmd is a trial-ware wrapper for cmd.exe and costs 30$

It offers:

  • tabs
  • a "normal" selection mode
  • copy'n'paste
  • highlighting
  • auto complete
  • buttons to start Python, Powershell and others
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  • I've been using PowerCmd but I find it freezes or doesnt work with more complex apps - GIT, P4 etc. Anyone else find this.
    – Toby Allen
    Commented Feb 27, 2011 at 21:57
  • I'm kinda embarrassed to admit that I actually googled "what is trailware"... I guess you probably meant trialware :) lol
    – Adam Plocher
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 3:16
  • Yes, thanks, fixed the typo.
    – phobie
    Commented Aug 28, 2015 at 9:32
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If you want a more feature-rich UI for Powershell, try PowerGUI.

http://powergui.org/index.jspa

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NYAOS

"NYAOS" is the tcsh-like enhanced commandline shell for Windows and OS/2 !

http://www.nyaos.org/

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  • Best ever and not spawn conhost.exe
    – user956584
    Commented Apr 13, 2014 at 0:50
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For decent completion and command history, try the PyCmd wrapper at https://sourceforge.net/projects/pycmd/

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I use 4NT from the above mentioned JPSoft. It works great and has great added functionality. It is being replaced by TakeCommand but I do not need that much extra functionality.

Update: It's no longer known as 4NT. Now its name is TCC/LE.

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Nick, I know you asked this a long while ago but I've just found it while searching for something related. I have been using PromptPal and its been great. I got it about a year ago, early 2008, and it was through this discount software thing called BitsDujour. I just went there and noticed they had a deal for 51% off that product only a few days ago. Keep your eyes on that site and maybe the discount will come up again soon. Its well worth the $30 but I got 2 licenses for 1/2 off, one for each of my PCs...

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If you want not to use cmd.exe totally then go for ZOC.exe terminal.ZOC is enterprise application.

Else just add some feature to your Command prompt by installing GOW.EXE.GOW is opensource application.

But always you can go for Git which is giving mostly commands in bash. Just add the bin folder to your environment path. Your command prompt will work as unix terminal.

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