Microsoft's latest Windows Terminal preview comes with a new focus mode to stop you getting distracted
Microsoft's latest preview of Windows Terminal brings a new focus mode and always-on-top mode to its command line app, plus several new commands and a new settings user interface (UI).
Focus mode appears in Windows Terminal preview version 1.2 and allows users to hide the tabs and title bar so they can focus solely on terminal content. Terminal users need to add a key binding for toggleFocusMode in their settings.json file.
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This preview also brings "always on top mode" allowing Windows Terminal Preview to always be the topmost window. This can be enabled with the alwaysOnTop global setting as well as a key binding using the toggleAlwaysOnTop command.
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Following the release of Terminal 1.0 this May, Microsoft has been releasing monthly updates to Windows Terminal and monthly updates to the preview Windows Terminal channel. Both versions can be run side by side. The Windows Terminal 1.1 Preview from last month now moves up to Windows Terminal, which is available from the Microsoft Store or GitHub.
Windows Terminal offers multiple tabs so that users can work with multiple tools like PowerShell, Command Prompt, and various Windows Subsystem for Linux distributions.
This preview introduces a range of new keybinding commands in Windows Terminal that let users set the tab color, open the tab color picker menu, rename the focused tab, and toggle on retro terminal effects.
Cascadia Code, the font Microsoft developed for Windows Terminal, has gained font weights so users can select "normal", "thin", "extra-light", "bold" and so on.
Windows Terminal contributors are also working on a command palette, which provides quick access to every Terminal feature. It can, for example, be used to find "focus mode".
Finally, a new settings user interface is in the works after contributors settled on the design of it. Users will be able to set a default profile for launch, as well as the launch size of the window, and control the appearance of Windows Terminal.