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Take Command of Your Windows Command Prompts

Are you frustrated with the limitations of the Windows CMD command prompt and batch file commands? Do you yearn for a real scripting language, and an integrated IDE and batch debugger? How about a Windows command processor that can do all of that, and still run existing CMD commands and batch files?

For more than 30 years, JP Software has been providing innovative solutions for programmers, system administrators, and advanced users. Take Command brings a new approach to working with Windows console applications,  offering a unique blend of command prompt power and the ease of use of a GUI. Take Command takes the Windows command prompt and enhances it with thousands of new features and capabilities. With its intuitive interface, users can navigate directories, create and execute commands, and manage files and processes with ease. Take Command makes the command prompt in Windows a powerful tool in the hands of both novice and experienced users.

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Windows Console Replacement and Windows Command Prompt Replacement
Take Command : Tabbed console windows and Windows command processor
Windows CMD prompts

Why Take Command is the Ultimate Windows Command Prompt Replacement

Take Command combines the best features of the GUI and Windows console (character-mode) interfaces. You can have multiple console applications open in tabbed windows, with a Windows Explorer interface available for those times when you need a visual look at your folders and files. Take Command is compatible with your existing Windows command prompt commands and batch files, while adding hundreds of new commands and thousands of new features. (And Take Command tab windows display output faster than Windows command prompts, and run batch files faster than the Windows console or Terminal!)

Take Command is composed of four elements which work closely together:

Take Command - A rich development and operations environment that allows you to easily:

      • Run multiple Windows console and simple GUI applications simultaneously in tabbed windows, including our own Take Command Console (TCC), CMD, PowerShell and bash. Take Command will display output much faster (up to 5x) than running applications in the Windows console or Windows Terminal.
      • Manage files and view the results in Explorer and the console tab windows.
      • Cut and paste text in multiple formats (including line, block or column).
      • Drag and drop files into tab windows from Explorer, other applications, or the desktop.
      • Record and playback mouse & keyboard events with the built-in macro recorder.

Take Command Console (TCC) - A Windows command interpreter upwardly compatible with CMD.EXE (the default command interpreter in Windows 10 / 11 / 2016 / 2019 / 2022) but vastly enhanced with thousands of additional features. TCC provides the ability to:

      • Enhance editing at the command prompt with a  powerful line editor, including tab completion, undo / redo, syntax coloring, command and directory history, etc.
      • Interactively run commands, such as DIR, COPY, etc.
      • Use Command Dialogs to easily select options for commands like COPY, DEL, DIR, MOVE, etc.
      • Run Windows batch files (.BAT or .CMD files); or Python, PowerShell, Lua, REXX, or Tcl/tk, or any Active Scripting language.
      • Create library functions, which are similar to batch files but which are loaded into RAM and can be called as if they are internal commands
      • Run batch scripts as background processes based on timed schedules or operational triggers, such as changes in the system environment, or activity / inactivity in a session.

Take Command Language - A mature scripting language based on and upwardly compatible with CMD prompt commands, but massively enhanced. It includes:

      • 275+ internal commands
      • 450+ internal variable functions
      • 350+ internal variables
      • Hundreds of additional options for commands like COPY, DEL, DIR, MOVE, REN, START, etc.
      • Capture video and/or audio output
      • Additional underlying capabilities, such as the ability to access FTP and HTTP sites as if they were local disk drives
      • Optional 3rd-party plugins (or write your own) that extend TCC with new commands, variables, and/or functions

And an Integrated batch programming IDE with tabbed edit windows and a batch file debugger (compatible with TCC or CMD batch files), that provides:

      • Single stepping - step into, step over, step out
      • Conditional breakpoints
      • Syntax coloring (commands, variables, aliases, comments, operators, etc.)
      • Tooltips that display command syntax or the current variable value
      • Variable, alias, call stack, breakpoint, environment variables, and watch windows
      • Bookmarks

The image above shows how the pieces fit together. Each window can be hidden, moved, docked in a different location, or torn off and moved outside the main Take Command window.

Master the Windows command line with Take Command
Command Prompt Mastery with Take Command

12 Reasons to Replace Your Windows Console

The Windows console is responsible for running character-mode applications, including CMD, PowerShell, WSL bash, etc. It was introduced in Windows NT 3.1 in 1993, and some major internal architectural improvements were made in Windows 10 and 11.

Unfortunately, the improvements to the console user interface were relatively minor, and though some efforts were made to improve the Windows CMD prompts UI with Windows Terminal, they fall far short of what Take Command has been providing for years.

So why replace the console with Take Command?

  1. The Windows console is slow, and even slower when using Windows Terminal. Take Command's tab windows typically display output between 20% and 300% faster.
  2. Take Command (like Windows Terminal) offers tabbed windows to run your console applications. But Take Command takes it to another level by including vertical or horizontal tab groups and splitter windows.
  3. Tabbed windows can be reordered, detached, or torn off, and existing console windows can be attached as new Take Command tab windows.
  4. Take Command can be easily configured for your preferences with its configuration dialogs.
  5. Take Command provides an optional embedded Windows File Explorer window that displays a tree view of the folders on your system and the contents of the selected folder (List View) on the right. You can drag folders and files from the Explorer window and drop them in a command prompt window.
  6. Take Command has an optional tabbed tool bar that you can use to execute internal or external commands, aliases, or batch files with the click of a mouse (or an accelerator key). You can define up to 20 tabs, each with up to 50 toolbar buttons.
  7. Take Command provides a configurable Status Bar that can display quick help for the current command, tooltips, and system information, including tab window size, CPU usage, memory usage, date & time, character values at the cursor location, and a slider control for window transparency.
  8. Take Command windows can be styled with a choice of 18 themes.
  9. Take Command and TCC offer a wide variety of colorization options, not just foreground and background colors.
  10. Cut and Paste options are limited in the default Windows console. Take Command provides both line and column selection, double-click or triple-click selections, overwriting or appending to the Windows clipboard, and a variety of paste options.
  11. Take Command includes invaluable tools, including a batch file debugging IDE, a regular expression creator / analyzer, search and replace in files, and a macro recorder / playback.
  12. Extensive help (quick help, context sensitive help, and general help) is available in English, French, German, and Spanish at the touch of a button.

12 Reasons to Replace Your Windows CMD Prompts

CMD.EXE is a Windows console mode shell that runs the commands you enter at the command prompt and runs simple batch scripts (files with a .CMD or .BAT extension). Unfortunately, the CMD command prompt has always been woefully lacking in even the most basic features compared to the command shells available in other operating systems. And it hasn’t changed significantly since its first appearance in Windows NT 3.1 (released in 1993).

We could easily have called this "1200 Reasons", but let's start with a dozen.

So Why Do I Need a CMD Replacement?

  1. CMD in Windows 10 / 11 has about 42 internal commands. That’s only a couple more than it had in Windows NT 3.1 30 years ago. Take Command has more than 275 internal commands, and offers major enhancements for commands like COPY, DEL, MOVE, and RENAME. And with Take Command's command dialogs, it's easier to use!
  2. CMD has (almost) no configuration options. There are a handful of switches you can specify on the startup line, and that’s it. Take Command has hundreds of configuration options that are easily set with the OPTION dialog.
  3. There’s no way to extend it with new commands or variables; your only choice is writing new external apps. Take Command has a plugin SDK for writing your own plugins, and you can download dozens of third-party plugins.
  4. Windows CMD prompts can set their foreground and background command prompt colors, and … nothing else. Take Command adds configurable command and variable syntax coloring, different colors for input, output, and errors, and colorized directories.
  5. Command line editing at the CMD command prompt is (extremely) simplistic. Take Command features the best command line editor of any command shell (yes, including any of the Linux command shells!).
  6. Filename completion is crude and non-programmable. Take Command includes (optionally programmable) popup file completion, and adds command, directory, alias, and variable completion.
  7. Variables in CMD consist of the environment variables and a total of 6 internal variables. All of those internal Windows settings you’d like to query? Not available. Take Command adds more than 800 internal variables and variable functions.
  8. File viewing is limited to TYPE. If you want to display a page at a time, pipe to MORE. Want to go back a page, search, scroll up and down? You can’t. Take Command includes The V File Viewer, the ultimate Windows text and binary file viewer.
  9. Aliases? Sort of. Just don’t try anything other than the most basic command alias. Take Command has command aliases, directory aliases, keystroke aliases, shared aliases, and more.
  10. 30+ years into the Internet era, and CMD's  support for the Internet consist of … nothing. No HTTPS or FTP(S) file access for internal commands. No SSL or SSH, and no SMTP. Take Command supports all of these, and much more.
  11. Help for CMD prompt commands is nearly non-existent. Sometimes, there is a paragraph or two of text output when you enter the command name followed by a /?. Want to see the command syntax while you’re constructing a command line or writing a batch file? Help on redirection, command line parsing, regular expressions, or batch file creation? Forget it. Take Command has an extensive interactive and context sensitive help system, available anytime at the press of a key.
  12. Creating, editing, and debugging batch files is a demanding task and needs an integrated solution. What is Microsoft’s solution? Edit the batch file in Notepad, run it at the prompt, and see what happens. Take Command has an easy to use and extremely powerfulI DE for creating, editing, and debugging your batch scripts.

Take Command is our flagship product. Take Command is a complete and upwardly compatible Windows console replacement that solves all of the problems above, and provides you with thousands of additional features. Learn more about Take Command.

Support Forums : Your Windows Command Prompt Guide

With Take Command, you'll not only have access to a wide range of powerful features and enhanced commands, but also a supportive community of command prompt enthusiasts. The JP Software Support Forums are a valuable resource for learning new tricks, sharing tips, and getting help when you need it. The Forums are also the place for the latest updates, announcements, and product releases from JP Software. 

The Support Forums include forums for Take Command, TCC, CMDebug, and TCC-RT support, Tips and Tricks, TCC Plugins, and Suggestions for future versions.

Whether you're a seasoned Windows prompt user or just getting started, Take Command is the tool that will take your command prompt experience to the next level.

Take Command

$99.95

Single system; multisystem discounts

  • Tabbed console windows with 18 themes - run any command line Windows app in a tab window
  • Includes TCC and CMDebug
  • Windows Explorer integration
  • Upwardly compatible with CMD
  • Forum-based support; optional Extended Support
  • 90-day unconditional return guarantee
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TCC

$69.95

Single system; multisystem discounts

  • Windows command prompt interpreter (CMD replacement)
  • 275+ internal commands
  • More than 800 internal variables and variable functions
  • Forum-based support; optional Extended Support
  • 90-day unconditional return guarantee
Buy TCC
CMDebug

$29.95

Single system; multisystem discounts

  • Batch editor and debugger for CMD and TCC-RT batch files
  • Set breakpoints and single-step through your batch files
  • Watch variables, call stack, breakpoint, and modified variables windows
  • Forum-based support
  • 90-day unconditional return guarantee
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Satisfaction Guarantee

We stand behind our products 100% -- if you are not completely satisfied with your individual copy of any JP Software product, return it within 90 days for a full refund. For complete details and terms see the Satisfaction Guarantee section of our Software License.

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