Tabbed Windows Console Replacement for the CMD Console and Command Console

Take Command is a comprehensive interactive GUI and command console toolset. Take Command makes your Windows command line faster, easier to use and far more powerful. Take Command runs command line applications in tabbed windows, with an optional Explorer-like interface available for those times when you need a visual look at your folders.

And Take Command includes a CMD console replacement that makes you immediately much more productive at the command line. Take Command includes hundreds of major enhancements to CMD commands such as COPY, DEL, DIR, and START. And it adds a batch file IDE and debugger, more than 180 internal commands, improved input line editing (including a variety of cut and paste options), enhanced tab filename completion, and thousands of other features.

Take Command combines the power of the command line with the ease of use of Explorer. Organize all of your console (character mode) applications in tabbed windows, and manipulate files at the command prompt and graphically see the results.
Take Command is a Windows console replacement, and is compatible with your existing CMD commands and batch files, while adding thousands of new features.
It's fast - 20-200% faster at displaying output than the standard Windows console, saving you time and money.
The integrated and familiar environment means you are immediately more productive with your interactive command prompt and batch file programming tasks.
The consistent command syntax reduces your learning and development time.
The comprehensive help (including context-sensitive popup help for command syntax), speeds your development time and reduces syntax errors.
Create and debug your batch files in a fraction of the time with Take Command's integrated batch file editor and debugger.
Take Command is fully customizable, including themes, colors, menus, keyboard shortcuts, toolbars, and windows.
The user interface is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. (Online help is currently only in English.)

You can run multiple command line and GUI applications simultaneously in tabbed console windows, including CMD, bash, PowerShell, and our own Take Command Console (TCC).
The integrated GUI file manager allows you to examine directories and drag and drop files to console applications in the tabbed windows.
The built-in screen scrollback buffer lets you review or print command line output from past commands, and find text in the tabbed windows.
The programmable tabbed toolbar lets you create up to 20 tabs with up to 50 toolbar buttons on each. Toolbar buttons can start new tabs or windows, or send commands or text to existing tabbed windows.
Redefine your commands through aliasing, create new commands and functions for your regular tasks, and assign frequently used commands to a single keystroke.
Take Command not only runs your existing CMD batch files, it runs them faster than CMD.
Create and debug your batch scripts with the integrated graphical IDE. The IDE includes tabbed editor windows and a sophisticated debugger with single stepping, breakpoints, syntax coloring, tooltips, bookmarks, tabbed variable and watch windows. Batch file programming has never been easier or more powerful!
The TCC scripting language is a massive superset of CMD, with 182 internal commands, 291 internal functions, and 177 system variables. Almost all of the CMD commands (e.g. DIR, COPY, DEL, START, etc.) are enhanced, with hundreds of additional options. And TCC adds more than 140 new commands. Take Command can usually do in one or two lines what requires dozens of lines in CMD (if it can do it at all).
The scripting language includes a complete set of flow control structures including IF-Then-Else, DO and FOR loops, SWITCH, subroutines, batch libraries, etc.
Environment variable handling is greatly enhanced, including nested variables, indirect variables, delayed expansion, multi-dimensional array variables, and access to the system, user, and volatile variables in the registry.
The file handling commands allow you to select or exclude files by date, time, size, owner, description, and extended wildcards or regular expressions for extraordinary flexibility in file management.
Specify multiple filenames for most file processing commands (i.e., COPY, DEL, MOVE, etc.). (COPY even supports multiple targets as well as multiple sources.)
TCC supports multiple types of redirection, including redirecting and piping to STDERR, "here-document" and "here-string" redirection, and TEE and Y pipe fittings.
Browse command line and directory history, filename and directory completion, and use numerous cut and paste options (even with console applications that have no internal cut and paste support) with the advanced line editor.
Customize filename completion for any internal or external command or alias. This allows Take Command to intelligently select and display filenames based on the command you are entering.
The optional input edit window (with full undo/redo) allows you to create and edit commands before sending them to the active tabbed windows (or console or GUI windows).
Send keystrokes to any application (console or GUI).
Colorize your command line output with the built-in ANSI x3.64 support.
Take Command includes the best text and binary file viewer available for Windows, including bidirectional scrolling, hex listings, rulers, grid lines, extensive searching (including regular expressions) and printing features, and much more.
Easily find (and optionally switch to) any directory on your system by entering only part of its name with extended ("fuzzy") directory searches.
Customize your directory displays with PDIR (a programmable DIR command).
Take Command includes internal compression and extraction commands for ZIP, TAR, and GZIP files.
Monitor your system's hardware and software events, and execute commands when an event is triggered. You can monitor directory changes, the clipboard, event logs, network connections, services, processes, and USB and Firewire connections.
Easily query the WMI (Windows Management Interface) to retrieve system configuration information.
You can access FTP, TFTP and HTTP (including SSL and SSH) directories and files in all command line file-handling commands (COPY, DEL DIR,, MOVE, etc.).
Send SMTP, SMPP, and SNPP messages from your batch files.
Create your own variables or commands with plugins, or choose from the many third-party plugin libraries.
Internal support is included for Perl, Ruby, REXX, Python, Tcl/tk, and any Active Scripting language (including VBScript and Javascript). You can even combine multiple languages in your script files.

For more information, see the Take Command and TCC tutorials.

Take Command is compatible with any 32-bit or 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later), 2003, Vista, 2008, and Windows 7.

There are two editions of Take Command, so you can use the version that's perfect for your needs. See Comparing Take Command, TCC/LE, and the CMD console.

Learn more about: Windows CMD Prompt. Windows Batch Scripting. Batch File Programming. CMD Console Commands. Windows Command Prompt Commands.

The command line is essential for advanced users, programmers, and systems administrators, and offers many advantages to users wanting to save time, expand their control and/or to automate their common tasks. Unfortunately, even the Windows 7 CMD console looks and behaves pretty much the same as the Windows 95 console. Different architecture under the covers, but the user interface has scarcely advanced past its DOS origins. No tabbed windows, no extended searching, saving, or printing the screen buffers, no zooming, awkward and primitive cut and paste options, etc.

The Windows command console is a character-mode interface for applications which do not need to use the Windows GUI. Recent versions of Windows refer to the console as a "command line" or "command prompt" window. Older versions often referred to the command console as a "DOS session", "DOS Window", or "DOS Prompt". (Though Windows console applications are true Windows 32-bit or 64-bit programs, and haven't been based on MS-DOS since Windows 98). Linux uses the phrase "terminal window".

The "Command Prompt" shortcut in Windows 7 is a Windows console session that runs the default command processor CMD (also called the "command shell"). Like the Windows console, the Windows command shell has always been woefully lacking in ability compared to other operating systems such as Linux (which has bash, tcsh, zsh, etc.). Because of limitations in the command shell, users have been forced to use the GUI for inappropriate tasks. (Or compelled to write programs to perform simple tasks that the CMD console should have been able to handle.)

Take Command is our flagship product. For over 20 years, JP Software has been helping programmers, system administrators, technical support professionals, and advanced users save time and money, and ease their console frustrations. Take Command includes a Windows console replacement that provides you with both a vastly better tabbed windows UI, and thousands of features that are not available in CMD or even in those Linux shells).

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What Our Users Say

"I've used the JP Software command processor since the beginning. I'd be lost without its scripting, aliasing, and capability for customization. I count on a new version, packed with new features, every 12-15 months. In between, the support is phenomenal. Those who visit the forums are in constant contact with the author. When maintenance releases are necessary they come very quickly."

Vincent Fatica