Build 2019: Windows 10 to Pick Up Tabbed Terminal, More

Today at its Build 2019 developer show, Microsoft announced several coming improvements to Windows 10. These are mostly developer-focused, but several will be of interest to power users and even general users as well.

They are:

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Windows Terminal. Microsoft’s next-generation command line environment will support GPU-powered text rending, emojis, and multiple tabs. “Windows Terminal will elevate the command-line user experience on Windows, delivering a powerful environment for users of PowerShell, Cmd, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and all forms of command-line application,” Microsoft notes. It’s expected to arrive in mid-June, so it’s not clear if it’s an Insider feature, perhaps for Windows 19H2, or something external to Windows.

Windows Subsystem for Linux 2. The next-generation version of WSL will address the top customer requests for improved performance and compatibility. It will offer up to twice the speed of today’s WSL for “file-system heavy operations” and will support running Linux Docker containers. It will also arrive in mid-June.

React Native for Windows. A new implementation of React Native for Windows will let developers who prefer this ecosystem to user-experience components on Windows. It is being developed on GitHub, Microsoft notes, and developers can use it now in pre-release form.

Microsoft Identity improvements. The Microsoft Identity platform is picking up a new app registration experience, new Microsoft Authentication Libraries, and support for Android, iOS, and web (JavaScript).

The most interesting bit there, of course, is the tabbed-based Terminal, which explains recent news around tabs in command line environments. Or perhaps the timing.

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  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2019 - 1:18 pm

    <p>I wonder if the new terminal will support SSH so I don't need to use putty anymore.</p>

    • Gerard Samuel

      06 May, 2019 - 1:49 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#426065">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>Its my understanding that SSH client has been in Win10 for a while now. I haven't tried myself.</p>

      • tbenest

        06 May, 2019 - 2:41 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#426084">In reply to originaltrini0:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think it is only in Pro not Home</p>

        • hrlngrv

          Premium Member
          06 May, 2019 - 3:26 pm

          <p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/dev/206210/build-2019-windows-10-to-pick-up-tabbed-terminal-more#426119&quot; target="_blank"><em>In reply to tbenest:</em></a></p><p>At the risk of dishonesty, if it's just an .EXE, copy it from Pro and try to run it in Home. It may work. FWIW, MSPAINT.EXE from Windows XP runs fine in all subsequent Windows versions (it has different/preferable rounded corner rectangles than the Windows 7 &amp; later versions; I never used Vista so have no idea how its Paint handled them).</p>

  • RobCannon

    06 May, 2019 - 1:41 pm

    <p>There is currently SSH support in Windows 10. WSL or from CMD.</p>

  • kshsystems

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2019 - 2:06 pm

    <p>I have tried to use SSH from powershell / CMD, but the emulation is still to inaccurate to be useable. Hopefully the new "Windows Terminal" addresses this</p>

  • jgraebner

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2019 - 2:20 pm

    <p>Ok, I'm stumped. Why does the command line need emoji support?</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      06 May, 2019 - 2:34 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#426110">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p>Probably if you are viewing database records that contain emoji's.</p>

      • hrlngrv

        Premium Member
        06 May, 2019 - 3:21 pm

        <p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/dev/206210/build-2019-windows-10-to-pick-up-tabbed-terminal-more#426114&quot; target="_blank"><em>In reply to lvthunder:</em></a></p><p>While the command line is great for many things, viewing database records with emoji or embedded image files may not be one of those things.</p>

      • AnOldAmigaUser

        Premium Member
        06 May, 2019 - 3:24 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#426114">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>Emojis in a database, and emoji support in the command line is pretty much the sign of the end of civilization.</p>

        • harrymyhre

          Premium Member
          06 May, 2019 - 11:20 pm

          <blockquote><em><a href="#426142">In reply to AnOldAmigaUser:</a></em></blockquote><p>Ray Davies from the kinks wrote the song years ago “give the people what they want”</p>

    • Usman

      Premium Member
      06 May, 2019 - 6:51 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#426110">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p>If you want to put git commit messages with emojis in the command line….</p>

    • SWCetacean

      Premium Member
      06 May, 2019 - 8:53 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#426110">In reply to jgraebner:</a></em></blockquote><p>Certain programming languages (like Swift I think) support the use of emoji as names. Also, you can see in the announcement blog post (http://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2019/05/emojis.png) that things like green check mark for pass, yellow ! warning sign, and the red X for fail are emoji.</p><p>But emoji support is a natural byproduct of full Unicode support. Emoji are just Unicode values; if you support full Unicode, you will support emoji too.</p>

  • christian.hvid

    06 May, 2019 - 2:59 pm

    <p>A bit disappointing that they continue to choose React Native over Flutter. But Microsoft has had an affinity for React/React Native for years now, possibly due to the fact that Facebook isn't a direct competitor.</p>

  • Bill Strong

    06 May, 2019 - 3:01 pm

    <h5>@jgraebner</h5><p>Ok, I'm stumped. Why does the command line need emoji support?</p><p><br></p><p>Obviously you have never used Oh My Bash/Fish/etc.</p><p><br></p><p>Developers that use the command line customize it using emojis to five them clues about the state of the git directory they are in, to tell them what directory they are in, and output responses with shorthand for other commands</p><p><br></p><p>Also, you need emojis for your twitter feed. :)</p>

    • warren

      06 May, 2019 - 9:09 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#426135">In reply to Bill_Strong:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Also worth mentioning that supporting emoji means that the terminal also supports more then 16 colours (which is a positively barbaric limitation in 2019), and current-generation Unicode specs. A big focus for Unicode these days is the ability to represent ancient and rare languages on computers. Unicode 10 added more than 8,000 characters, only about 60 of which were emoji.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

  • truerock

    06 May, 2019 - 4:43 pm

    <p>So… to me this sounds like maybe someone at Microsoft has a clue.</p><p>Yes, the vast majority of Windows users do not want to have anything to do with an operatring system. They essentially want the operating system to be invisible and unobtrusive as they use the applications they want to use. If Windows users are constantly aware of the existence of Windows – then Microsoft screwed up.</p><p><br></p><p>But, there are others who do work on the Windows operating system – and, things like command line, WSL, PowerShell, Notepad, Windows Settings, Device Manager, etc are important. So, all of things in Paul's article sound like good things, Although the emoji thing I do not understand and seems weird.</p><p><br></p><p>Now if Microsoft could pull their head out and fix Notepad with tabs, hex/octal, line numbers, etc… then I'd start to think they wouldn't have flunked out of my OS college course.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

    • Rob_Wade

      07 May, 2019 - 10:04 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#426170">In reply to truerock:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>If that's true, then why is there so much effort around Fluent and all the superficial aspects of Windows? Personally, I hate all the fluff–I despised Aero and I feel the same about Fluent–but I'm the exception, apparently. I see post after post from people demanding more fluff.</p><p><br></p><p>And why the heck would you have emoji on a command line interface? Sheesh.</p>

      • justme

        Premium Member
        08 May, 2019 - 1:26 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#426364">In reply to Rob_Wade:</a></em></blockquote><p>You may be an exception, but you arent alone. I neither understand the hoopla around Fluent nor care about it. To me, Fluent seems like a waste of time and resources. While I dont hate Aero, I am very "meh" about it.</p><p><br></p><p>As far as the emojis go – I'm completely with you there. Though I did read (might even have been here at Thurrott) that one of the reasons terminal got emoji support is that there are some programs/apps/databases/genericTHING which you could send a command via terminal to that allows emojis as part of a user name – which just seems silly to me.</p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      07 May, 2019 - 5:49 pm

      <p><a href="https://www.thurrott.com/dev/206210/build-2019-windows-10-to-pick-up-tabbed-terminal-more#426170&quot; target="_blank"><em>In reply to truerock:</em></a></p><p>Me, I figure Notepad should remain the GUI moral equivalent of EDLIN. If you want anything beyond basic plain text editing, there are lots of free and commercial 3rd party alternatives. There's also VS Code.</p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    06 May, 2019 - 7:26 pm

    <p>If a new tabbed terminal weren't built into Windows, would it be possible to have both the traditional, untabbed and new tabbed terminals? How would one select which one to use?</p>

  • chrisrut

    Premium Member
    08 May, 2019 - 10:22 am

    <p>Windows Terminal tabs etc.: That's really cool. Not cool enough to get me to un-retire, but cool.</p><p><br></p><p>Same for the identity improvements; those have broad ramifications – perhaps even cross-OS program execution within one environment. </p>

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