Windows Terminal 1.0 is out: Here's how we'll update it in future, says Microsoft
After a year of building on Windows Terminal previews, Microsoft has released version 1.0 of its new open-source terminal application.
Microsoft announced Windows Terminal at Build 2019 and now, at its virtual Build 2020, Microsoft has taken the wraps off version 1.0. Windows Terminal is for developers who use Command Prompt, PowerShell, Azure Cloud Shell and several Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distributions, such as Ubuntu.
Windows 10
With the release of version 1.0, Microsoft has provided official documentation for Terminal, which allows users to run several command-line applications simultaneously inside multiple tabs and panes.
SEE: Cheat sheet: Windows 10 (free PDF)
The application also offers GPU-accelerated text rendering and supports Unicode and TF-8 characters, meaning it supports emojis too.
Microsoft has been adding features for users to customize the look and feel of Terminal to their liking, including blurry acrylic backgrounds, different color schemes, custom fonts, and custom key bindings.
From July 2020, Microsoft will be releasing monthly updates to Windows Terminal. It's also launching a Windows Terminal preview channel for developers to test the latest features. The preview channel will have monthly updates, starting in June.
Terminal 1.0 features two packages, including the stable build of Terminal and the WindowsTerminalPreview version. The preview can be installed side by side with the stable version.
"If you are someone who likes to be involved with the development of Windows Terminal and use the latest features as soon as they are developed, this is the channel for you," Kayla Cinnamon, Windows Terminal, Console, Command Line, & Cascadia Code program manager, wrote.
Separately, Microsoft has been steadily releasing new features to improve things for developers who use WSL on Windows 10 PCs, such as its new integration of File Explorer for easier access to Linux files on Windows 10.
SEE: Microsoft Build 2020: Everything announced and then some
At this week's Build 2020 virtual developer conference, Microsoft also announced that WSL will soon let developers run Linux GUI apps, while Linux guests on Windows will gain access to GPUs for hardware acceleration.
Microsoft is also making it easier to install WSL via Windows Terminal, introducing a single command 'wsl.exe –install' in the command-line terminal. This enables a specified WSL Linux distro to be downloaded and installed automatically on restart. Windows 10 users on the Windows Insiders Fast Ring should see this in the "next few months".
Windows Terminal 1.0 is available from the Microsoft Store and the GitHub releases page.