Microsoft: This new Windows Terminal update gives you 'way better settings'

Microsoft has released a new Windows Terminal preview, giving it the Windows 10 version syntax, so it's now known as Windows Terminal 1909 or the September 2019 release. And with that shift Microsoft has outlined its release cycle for Terminal and the v1.0 roadmap.

Microsoft launched Windows Terminal in June for developers who use command-line tools and shells like Command Prompt (cmd.exe), PowerShell, and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distributions. 

From here on, Microsoft plans to release a new version of Windows Terminal once every four weeks, after two weeks of feature development, one week of quality and stability fixes, and one week of release preparation.       

SEE: 20 pro tips to make Windows 10 work the way you want (free PDF)    

Microsoft's Terminal project is aiming to release version 1.0 of the command-line app as 'feature complete' by the end of 2019. After that, it will iron out bugs and improve stability and quality and then release v1.0 in April 2020. 

It's laid out a long list of the "optimal" features and capabilities it wants to have included before v1.0 is released. 

For the latest preview of Windows Terminal 1909, Terminal is gaining Microsoft's new Cascadia Code, a typeface that it open-sourced last week aimed at command-line apps and code editors. Cascadia Code came from the project behind Windows Terminal, which was codenamed Cascadia.    

Microsoft promises "settings are going to get way better from here on in". That's partly due to a new settings schema that offers up auto-fill suggestions when editing a profiles.json file. For those using Visual Studio Code, the settings schema can also help avoid typos.  

Additionally, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distributions now automatically show up in the menu and are ready to use. 

Newly enabled stylus support allows users to make a text selection with a stylus inside Terminal. The stylus is treated as a mouse and so always selects text when dragging over the Terminal window. 

Microsoft has also added a new 'closeWindow' keybinding for Terminal that's bound to Alt+F4 and closes a window if multiple tabs are open with PowerShell Core or Linux. Before closing the window it will display a prompt asking the user if they want to close all tabs. 

SEE: Microsoft: Windows 10 now on more than 900 million devices

Finally, Microsoft has addressed a bug in Terminal v 0.4 that was causing it to crash sometimes when copying. Now, if something fails, terminal won't crash. 

The Terminal development team is also responsible for fixing bugs in Windows Console Host, aka conhost.exe, the original Windows command-line app that still ships with Windows. 

Microsoft is maintaining Console Host for backwards-compatibility. As noted by Microsoft's Kayla Cinnamon, because Console Host ships with Windows, the group needs to maintain it within the Windows development cycle. 

More on Microsoft and Windows Terminal

• Microsoft: New Windows Terminal update is out and it's 'huge'
• Microsoft's new Windows Terminal is now available in the Store
• Windows Terminal preview: New customizations offer 'big improvement'
• Windows 10 is getting a Microsoft-built Linux kernel
• Microsoft Build 2019: Azure is the star, and Windows is a bit player
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• Azure, Microsoft 365, GitHub: New services unveiled at Build 2019 TechRepublic
• Microsoft Build 2019 Day 1: Everything announced and how to replay CNET