Take Command Console LE -- Freeware 4dos For Windows

Ages ago back in the days of DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 9x, I used a shareware replacement for the DOS command line (command.com) called 4dos (from JP Software). When I moved to XP, I briefly played with the 32-bit version (4nt), but decided that I did not use the command line enough to justify buying it. Using Linux for a few years reminded me of how useful a good command line can be, so I was happy to discover that JP Software now offered a version of there command line software for free: Take Command Console LE (TCCLE). TCCLE is a native 32-bit replacement for cmd.com with many new commands and features. Not as many as the payware version, of course, but TCCLE offers just about everything I remember from 4dos/4nt and more.

From the TCCLE web site:

TCC LE is a freely available version of our basic command processor (formerly known as 4NT). We have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of this product for $74.95. Now you can get a special version of the product for free. It's a big step up from CMD and with a lower learning curve than Powershell.

Enhanced Command Processor With Substantial Ease of Use Improvements

* Enhanced command line editor with history, filename completion and cut & paste
* Built-in screen scrollback buffer lets you review or print output from past commands at any time
* Enhanced Directory Navigation lets you quickly browse and change directories
* Built-in file viewer includes scrolling, search, and print capabilities

Powerful Windows Command Language Does The Work For You

* Core scripting language - large superset of CMD with 111 commands, 140 functions and 97 internal variables
* Upgraded CMD commands (e.g. DIR, COPY etc) with hundreds of additional options
Complete flow of control structures including IF-Then-Else, DO Loops, Switch, subroutines, batch libraries, etc.
* Redefine commands through aliasing, create new commands and functions for your regular tasks, even assign frequently used commands to a single keystroke
* Select or exclude files by date, time, size, and extended wildcards or regular expressions for extraordinary flexibility in file management

TCC/LE v11 is compatible with any version of Microsoft XP, 2003, Vista, 2008, and Windows 7, including 64-bit versions. It requires a minimum of 10Mb of free disk space.

While most people dread the command line, many power users tend to find it useful -- but find the standard windows CMD so underpowered as to be almost useless but find the new Powershell requires .NET programming knowledge to do much with. TCCLE is a good middle ground. While it is not bash or zsh (two powerful Unix command processors), it has plenty of power and does not require .NET programming knowledge to use effectively. It's CMD on steroids as opposed to something much different than CMD.

Rating: 5.0
Operating System: Windows XP or later
License: Freeware
Price: Free
Version Tested: 11.00.37
Web Site: http://www.jpsoft.com/tccledes.htm