Take Command, Console2, PromptPal, and PowerCmd Tabbed Windows Console Replacement

Windows runs command line applications (such as CMD, PowerShell, and TCC) in a character-mode window called the Windows Console. Unfortunately, the Windows console has always been seriously lacking in even the most basic features compared to what is available in GUI apps. And the Windows console UI hasn't changed significantly since its first appearance in Windows NT 3.1 (way back in 1993).

Take Command is our flagship product. For over 20 years, JP Software has been helping advanced users, developers, system administrators, and technical support professionals save time and money, and ease their command prompt frustrations. We provide you with a fast and easy to use replacement for the Windows console, bringing you the power of the command line, the functionality of command prompt commands and the ease of use of the GUI. Take Command lets you display your Windows console (and simple GUI) applications in tabbed windows, with optional Explorer-like windows available for those times when you need a visual look at your folders and files.

Take Command also includes a complete CMD replacement that provides you with a vastly better UI, command prompt commands and thousands of features that are not available in CMD (or even in those Linux shells). And Take Command is a superset of the CMD commands and syntax, so you will be immediately more productive. Take Command includes hundreds of major enhancements to command prompt commands such as COPY, DEL, DIR, and START, more than 180 internal commands, improved command line editing (including a variety of cut and paste options), configurable tab filename completion, and thousands of other new features.

We believe that Take Command is the best Windows console replacement / enhancement available. However, there are a handful of other applications that offer a small subset (specifically tabbed windows for consoles) of the features in Take Command. (None of these other applications provide a CMD replacement.)

This table compares the feature sets of the most recent versions of Take Command, Console2, PromptPal, and PowerCmd. (If you know of any other similar applications, please contact us and we will add them to the table.) PowerCmd and PromptPal are commercial products; Console2 is GPL.

Compare the features and try them out -- we're convinced you'll find that Take Command is faster, more reliable, and has a feature set unrivalled by Console2, PromptPal, PowerCmd, and any other tabbed console windows application.

Sound too good to be true? We'll prove it -- download the fully-functional 30-day trial, or order risk-free with our unconditional 90-day money-back guarantee.

* There is some confusion on other web sites about whether tabbed windows applications like Console2, PromptPal, or PowerCmd can replace the Windows CMD shell. Console2, PromptPal, and PowerCmd are not CMD replacements; they are thin wrappers around the Windows console to provide a basic tabbed GUI for CMD (or other console applications). CMD has about 36 internal commands and 6 internal variables (this varies slightly by version). Only Take Command includes both a far more extensive tabbed GUI environment and a powerful CMD replacement Windows command processor.

Console2 has been in beta for several years; the latest Console2 beta is from October 2011. The latest PromptPal release is from early 2010.  The latest PowerCMD release is from May 2011.

Versions tested:

Take Command 13.04   Copyright 1995-2012 JP Software

Console2 2.00.148   Copyright 2001-2011 Marko Bozikovic

PromptPal 1.5.9.0  Copyright Technology Lighthouse 2010

PowerCmd 2.2  Copyright 2006-2011 PowerCmd