Take Command, Console2, PromptPal, & PowerCmd Tabbed Windows Consoles
Windows runs command prompt 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 30+ 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 an optional Windows Explorer window 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 any Linux shell). 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 270 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 unrivaled 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. PromptPal, Console2, 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 40 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 with more than 250 internal commands and 760 internal variables and functions.
Console2 has been in beta for several years; the latest Console2 beta is from June 2013. The latest PromptPal release is from May 2014. The latest PowerCMD release is from May 2011.
Versions tested:
Take Command 29.0 Copyright 1995-2022 JP Software
Console2 2.00.148 Copyright 2001-2013 Marko Bozikovic
PromptPal 2.1.1 Copyright Technology Lighthouse 2014
PowerCmd 2.2 Copyright 2006-2011 PowerCmd