3 Command Prompt That Are Better than we have(Default)

ConEmu

Personally one of my favorite Command Prompt replacements, ConEmu hasn’t been around terribly long (about a year or so), but has a ton of options and is highly customizable.

Like the idea of a transparent window? ConEmu has an easy to use System Settings menu that makes it possible. Want a background image instead? You can do that as well.

Of course Command Prompt has never been about beauty, it’s all about getting things done. For that, ConEmu offers features liked tabbed browsing and the ability to quickly rename each tab for organizational purposes.

Probably one of the best features – productivity wise – is the ability to create a list of pre-defined commands.

Once you have set up and saved settings for your newly defined commands/tasks, every time you launch the ConEmu program you can simply choose from one of these easy commands from a drop-down menu found in the top right of the screen.

PowerCMD

While ConEmu is my favorite, I have to admit that PowerCMD is a pretty interesting alternative as well.

I’m pretty new to this tool compared to ConEmu, but am quickly finding that it does almost everything that ConEmu does – and more. Sure, PowerCMD doesn’t have the ability for transparencies or fancy background images, but you can change the window color.

If you want tabbed browsing, PowerCMD delivers, but it goes a step further. You can actually divide up the screen into 2 – 4 boxes that allow you to run multiple windows and commands all at the same time.

Need access to quick commands, PowerCMD also offers this time of functionality and allows you to execute set commands by using a quick key combo, like CTRL + F2.

Finally, while typing in commands, PowerCMD also will give you suggestions and will let you browse through and find the folder you are looking for. This is particularly useful if you aren’t exactly sure where a file or directory is located!

Console2

Honestly, I don’t have nearly as much love for Console2 as ConEmu or PowerCMD. For starters, it isn’t nearly as powerful or customizable as the others. Still, it works well and remains one of the best Command Prompt alternatives on the market, even if not as exciting as the first tools we mentioned.

For what it’s worth, Console2 does still feature things like window transparency or a background image.

It also has tabbed browsing and many of the same power user features as you’ll find with the other two.

While not as robust as the others, Console 2 still has a powerful Console Settings menu for better controlling this command prompt alternative.

So what you won’t get? Unless I’m missing something here, I don’t see any way to set up pre-defined commands for quick use. Otherwise, Command2 offers a similar level of functionality.