I've tried a few, however ConEmu stands out the most. Or running a long operation like deploying a cluster in Azure.įortunately, we have a solution here - terminal emulators. When I work on two git projects I don't want to switch directories all the time.
I mean come on, I do have it in Mac OSX and Ubuntu desktop by default, not sure why Microsoft didn't include it as a standard. Eventually when I started using PS more and more I wanted moar, like having a tabbed interface. It even supports copy paste operations unlike built-in cmd where you need a weirdo combination of mouse movements to do basic stuff. That PowerShell shortcut you get in Windows 10 is all you need.
Most of the commands in PS have aliases mapped to Linux terminal commands, you get cat, ls, cp, kill, mount etc (type Get-Alias to get the full list). PS has a real scripting language with expressions, functions, variables, loops but targeted more for speedy command line syntax which is exactly what we want. You get Azure, AWS, Octopus and endless amount of other useful stuff. Most of the server management software integrates with PS with custom modules as well. There is also PowerShell ISE which is sort of an IDE for writing scripts (hint - it's already installed on your Windows PC) with autocomplete, help, and all the goodness.
PS is already installed on your windows PC, and you get the latest and greatest with Windows 10 (hey, you can even get it on Mac, PC or Linux if you are crazy).
You can even install a powershell module package manager like PsGet to get more goodness. You get autocomplete with tab, color highlighting, aliases etc. Windows is not known for best command line shell, I agree, it's just crap when it comes to cmd (built-in terminal). It has improved a lot since the Classic Portal, however still slow. I work a lot with Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio, and all the daily Azure Management operations are just too slow via the portal. I've used PowerShell in the past and generally a few times a month when I absolutely had and I've decided to go on a bumpier ride. I just hate JavaScript, or rather it's misuse and sloppy heavy apps built with it, either desktop or a browser (although I'm a certified JavaScript expert anyway).Īs you already understood, my journey of exploring an alternative approach to work started with frustration of not being able to get things done in time. Don't get me wrong, I love slack, and I do run it every day. Same goes for any "desktop" app built in Atom, they are just too hungry. For instance, the ever popular and cool Slack client for Windows, a clean instance spawns 5 processes:Īnd it's a bloody chat client! How many of these small desktop utilities can I afford to run on my laptop? Not many. Hey, even desktop applications are done with Electron Atom which essentially an instance of Chrome running on your computer. A recent trend is to do everything in a browser, with JavaScript. Unfortunately, we don't have many these days.
I like properly thought out fast user interfaces with keyboard shortcuts, my preferred way. I still think it's just too much hassle, typing bores me, I'm a visual person.