The default Windows command prompt (cmd.exe) is terrible compared to what UNIX terminal emulators and shells offer that’s why people constantly develop new tools to make the command prompt bearable. Here are some links:
cmd.exe replacements
PyCMD
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/pycmd/
- CMD replacement implemented in Python
- provides better TAB completion and command line editing
- not a full CMD replacement
- not under active development (?)
NYAOS
- http://www.nyaos.org/
- customizable command completion (via LUA scripting)
- UNIX shell like key binding and command line editing
- thin documentation
- user community mostly Japanese
TCC/LE
- http://jpsoft.com/tccle-cmd-replacement.html
- formerly known as 4NT
- full replacement for CMD.exe
- backwards compatible; can execute standard batch files
- improved command line editing
UNIX shells
- aka Cygwin or Windows ports of zsh, bash, etc.
- IMHO better than any of the Windows shells
- execution speed of scripts is slow due to “fork() emulation”
cmd.exe improvements
ANSICON
- https://github.com/adoxa/ansicon/
- adds ANSI colors to cmd.exe
- injects dll into cmd.exe
clink
- https://code.google.com/p/clink/
- adds command line editing (readline)
- adds bash-like command completion (customizable via LUA scripts)
Alternative terminal emulators
Console 2
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/
- tabbed interface
- before ConEmu the best alternative cmd interface
mintty
- http://code.google.com/p/mintty/
- based on the great PuTTY
- excellent for use with Cygwin or MSYS shells
ConEmu-Maximus5
- https://code.google.com/p/conemu-maximus5/
- my new favorite (replacing Console 2)
- full color support
- horizontal and vertical splits
- lots of options
Conclusion
ConEmu is definitely a must have. Adding clink to your system does not hurt and makes cmd.exe somewhat usable. If you want to try another shell I would give NYAOS a try. Unfortunately the documentation is thin and the community is mostly Japanese.