Tag: Terminal

May202020May 20, 2020May 19, 20203Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Install WinGet - Windows Package Manager

How to Install WinGet Windows Package Manager

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Package Manager, Windows Terminal, Work

For a long time, people have been asking for a package manager on Windows. Today at Microsoft Build, Microsoft announced the preview of the Windows Package Manager called WinGet. A package manager can help you to save time and quickly install software and tools on to your machine. Developers and IT Pros have wanted a native package manager in Windows for a long time and with WinGet, you will get that.

You can read more about the Windows Package Manager Preview announcement here.

How to install WinGet Windows Package Manager

The Windows Package Manager is currently in preview. To install the preview of Windows Package Manager, you basically have two options. Since WinGet is open source, you can clone, build, run, and test the code from the GitHub repository (https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli). You can also become a Windows Insider an join the Windows Package Manager Insider program by sending your Microsoft Account (MSA) to [email protected] and request to be included in the preview.

App Installer in the Windows Store

App Installer in the Windows Store

After you have joined either Insider program, head over to the Microsoft Store and get the App Installer. The Windows Package manager will be available after you get the update.

How to install software using the Windows Package Manager

Now you can start using winget in the Windows Terminal, Windows command line, or PowerShell. The command line client “winget.exe” is already pre-configured to point to the Microsoft community repository.

winget install Windows Package Manager

winget install Windows Package Manager

Search for available packages

winget search APPLICATION

Display information about the packages

winget show APPLICATION

Install packages

winget install APPLICATION

Manage sources for packages

winget source (add/list/update/remove/reset)

Here is a quick look at some of the packages in the Microsoft Community repository.

winget show

winget show

Contribute and Feedback

Since the Windows Package Manager is open source, you can also contribute by sharing your feedback and suggestions on GitHub.

More information

You can find more information about the WinGet Windows Package Manager check out the Microsoft Docs and the preview announcement blog post. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.

 


Apr052020April 5, 2020May 20, 202011Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Customize Windows Terminal

My Customized Windows Terminal Settings.json

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Thomas Maurer, Visual Studio Code, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Terminal

This is just a very quick blog post to share my customized Windows Terminal settings.json, and it should give you an idea of how you can customize the Windows Terminal for your needs. The new Windows Terminal for Windows 10 which is open-source and you currently can get it from the Windows Store. The new Windows Terminal lets you run different shells like Windows PowerShell, PowerShell 7, Command Prompt, WSL, and also WSL 2. It provides a couple of improvements like; multiple tabs support, GPU accelerated DirectWrite/DirectX-based text rendering engine, and much more. For me, one of the biggest advantages are the advanced customizing and configuration options, which allow you to configure the Windows Terminal settings using a profiles.json file.

Windows Terminal 1.0 was released on May 19, you can find more documentation here on Microsoft Docs.

I already shared a couple of blog posts on how you can customize your Windows Terminal experience:

Customized Windows Terminal Settings profiles json

Customized Windows Terminal Settings settings json

Read More

Sep242019September 24, 2019April 6, 20201Commentby Thomas Maurer
Cascadia Code in Windows Terminal

Change the Windows Terminal Theme from Light to Dark

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Terminal, Work

This is again a very small post on the Windows Terminal, like how to open the Windows Terminal from the command prompt or run and how to change the Windows Terminal background image. This time I got asked about how you switch the Windows Terminal Theme from light to dark. Well, the answer is pretty simple. The theme of the Windows Terminal is defined by the Windows 10 color theme. So to change the Windows Terminal theme from light to dark, you simply need to change the default app mode to dark or switch completely switch to dark in the Windows 10 personalization settings. Not like other Windows 10 apps, after you have switch the color mode, you will need to close and reopen the Windows Terminal to see the change.

The Windows Terminal is currently in preview and lets you run shells like the classic command-line, PowerShell or WSL and WSL 2. If you want to know how to install the Windows Terminal or how to customize the Windows Terminal, check out my blog post.

Change to Windows Terminal Dark Theme

Here is how you change it to the dark theme.

  1. Open Windows 10 Settings
  2. Go to Personalization
  3. Click on Colors
  4. Choose your color and select “Dark“
Windows Terminal Dark Theme

Windows Terminal Dark Theme

 

Activate Light Theme

Here is how you change it to the light theme.

  1. Open Windows 10 Settings
  2. Go to Personalization
  3. Click on Colors
  4. Choose your color and select “Light“
Windows Terminal Light Theme

Windows Terminal Light Theme

You can find more tips on how to customize the Windows Terminal on my blog. I hope this is a quick help, also check out my blog post about the new font called Cascadia Code. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment.


Sep192019September 19, 2019April 6, 20209Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Cascadia Code in Windows Terminal

New Microsoft Code and Terminal Font Cascadia Code

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Terminal

Cascadia Code is the latest monospaced font shipped from Microsoft focusing on delivering an excellent font for command-line experiences and code editors like Visual Studio Code. The Cascadia Code font was first announced at the Microsoft Build conference in May 2019. And yesterday, Microsoft just released Cascadia Code version 1909.16 and it is available publicly on GitHub. Cascadia Code makes an excellent font for the Windows Terminal, and you can download it today.

It is the latest monospaced font shipped from Microsoft and provides a fresh experience for command line experiences and code editors. Cascadia Code was developed hand-in-hand with the new Windows Terminal application. This font is most recommended to be used with terminal applications and text editors such as Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code.

I took some time to install Cascadia Code font on my Surface Book 2 and it works great with application like Visual Studio Code and the Windows Terminal running PowerShell. To start using it, simply download the font, install it, and configure the application to use is. In the Windows Terminal app, open the settings.json file and change the font in the specific terminal profile.

VS Code Cascadia Code setting for Windows Terminal

VS Code Cascadia Code setting for Windows Terminal

  "profiles" : 
    [
        {
            "acrylicOpacity" : 0.5,
            "closeOnExit" : true,
            "colorScheme" : "VibrantInk",
            "commandline" : "C:\\Program Files\\PowerShell\\6\\pwsh.exe",
            "cursorColor" : "#FFFFFF",
            "cursorShape" : "bar",
            "fontFace" : "Cascadia Code",
            "fontSize" : 12,
            "guid" : "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
            "historySize" : 9001,
            "icon" : "ms-appx:///ProfileIcons/{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}.png",
            "name" : "PowerShell Core",
            "padding" : "0, 0, 0, 0",
            "snapOnInput" : true,
            "startingDirectory" : "%USERPROFILE%",
            "useAcrylic" : true,
            "backgroundImage": "C:/Users/thoma/OneDrive/Pictures/Me/Thomas Maurer Logos 2016/WindowsTerminal/Black Cloud Robot.png",
            "tabTitle": "PowerShell Core "
        },

If you want to know more about customizing the Windows Terminal, check out my blog post. You can find more tips on how to customize the Windows Terminal on my blog. If you are optimizing and customizing your code editor experience, you should also have a look at my favorite themes for Visual Studio Code.

The font is open source and licensed under the SIL Open Font license on GitHub, so it is easy to contribute. Have you tried the Cascadia Code font, and what do you think about the new coding font? Do you like it? And if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

If you are looking for some other cool Microsoft coding projects, have a look at Azure Cloud Shell and PowerShell 7.


Sep142019September 14, 2019April 6, 20208Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Windows Terminal Background Acrylic Opacity

How to Change the Windows Terminal Background Image

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Terminal, Work

As you may know, Microsoft released a new Windows Terminal, which is currently in preview. However, it has some great new features, and a lot of people are currently trying it out. Now I got a lot of questions about how you can change the background of the Windows Terminal. So I decided to write a quick blog post about how you can configure and customize the Windows Terminal background image. There are multiple ways you can do this. And you can not only change the color or use a background image, but you can also change the opacity, and if it should use the acrylic Windows effect.

Customize the Windows Terminal Background Image

First open the settings of the Windows Terminal app, which will open a JSON file, where the settings are stored.

Windows Terminal Settings

Windows Terminal Settings

This will allow you to customize the settings and colors of the terminal. Every console has a so-called profile, which you can modify. Let’s start with adding a background image.

        {
            "acrylicOpacity" : 0.5,
            "closeOnExit" : true,
            "colorScheme" : "VibrantInk",
            "commandline" : "C:\\Program Files\\PowerShell\\6\\pwsh.exe",
            "cursorColor" : "#FFFFFF",
            "cursorShape" : "bar",
            "fontFace" : "Consolas",
            "fontSize" : 12,
            "guid" : "{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}",
            "historySize" : 9001,
            "icon" : "ms-appx:///ProfileIcons/{574e775e-4f2a-5b96-ac1e-a2962a402336}.png",
            "name" : "PowerShell Core",
            "padding" : "0, 0, 0, 0",
            "snapOnInput" : true,
            "startingDirectory" : "%USERPROFILE%",
            "useAcrylic" : true,
            "backgroundImage": "C:/Users/thoma/OneDrive/Pictures/Me/Thomas Maurer Logos 2016/WindowsTerminal/Black Cloud Robot.png",
            "tabTitle": "PowerShell Core "
        },

With the “backgroundImage” value, you can set a specific image as the background.

"backgroundImage": "C:/Users/thoma/OneDrive/Pictures/Me/Thomas Maurer Logos 2016/WindowsTerminal/Black Cloud Robot.png"

Opacity

You can use the “backgroundImageOpacity” to set the opacity of the for the background image, and this is super helpful when you have a full background image.

Windows Terminal Background Image Opacity

Windows Terminal Background Image Opacity

You can add the following value to configure the opacity.

"backgroundImageOpacity" : 0.2

Acrylic effect

You can also configure the Windows Terminal to use the Acrylic effect in Windows 10 for the background. This will combine the acrylic effect with the background image.

Windows Terminal Background Acrylic Opacity

Windows Terminal Background Acrylic Opacity

Just set the following value to the settings.

"useAcrylic" : true,
"acrylicOpacity" : 0.5

Here is a full config you can have a look at, with all the settings enabled.

Profile

Profile

Let me know if that helps you to set, change, and customize the background image of the Windows Terminal. You can find more tips on how to customize the Windows Terminal on my blog and you can read more about the new Windows Terminal on the official blog. And if you want to know more about how you can run Azure Cloud Shell in the terminal, check out my blog post. If you have questions, let me know in the comments.


Jun222019June 22, 2019September 22, 201910Commentsby Thomas Maurer
Download the new Windows Terminal Preview

Install the new Windows Terminal (Preview)

Posted in Microsoft, PowerShell, Software, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Terminal, Work

At Microsoft Build 2019, the team announced a new Windows Terminal which will be open-source. There are a couple of improvements which are coming to the new Windows Terminal like; multiple tabs support, GPU accelerated DirectWrite/DirectX-based text rendering engine, advanced configuration settings, and much more. It allows you to run different shells like Windows PowerShell, PowerShell Core, Command Prompt, WSL, and also WSL 2. Today you can download the Windows Terminal Preview from the Microsoft Store. It is still a very early preview and the team, as well as the community, are still working on it. The team’s goal is to work with the community and launch version 1.0 end of 2019. Here is how you can install the new Windows Terminal.

Windows Terminal is a new, modern, fast, efficient, powerful, and productive terminal application for users of command-line tools and shells like Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WSL.

You can find more information about it here on the Microsoft announcement blog.

Download and Install the Windows Terminal

You were able to download the sources for the terminal from GitHub and build it yourself. However, the preview release in the Windows Store makes it much easier to try it out and stay more up to date.

Download Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal will be delivered via the Microsoft Store in Windows 10 and will be updated regularly, ensuring you are always up to date and able to enjoy the newest features and latest improvements with minimum effort.

Provide Feedback and get involved

Windows Terminal is a new, modern, feature-rich, productive terminal application for command-line users. It includes many of the features most frequently requested by the Windows command-line community including support for tabs, rich text, globalization, configurability, theming & styling, and more.

The Terminal will also need to meet our goals and measures to ensure it remains fast, and efficient, and doesn’t consume vast amounts of memory or power.

You can file bugs and share feedback with the community and us, as well as fix issues and make improvements on GitHub. If you come across any bugs or want to share feedback, you can do that on GitHub issues for detailed issues/discussions or with the Microsoft Store release in the Feedback Hub. You join the development on GitHub.

If you want to use the new font which was designed for terminals and code editors like VS Code, check out my post about Cascadia Code.

Azure Cloud Shell

Windows Terminal Azure Cloud Shell

Windows Terminal Azure Cloud Shell

I also want to mention that you can run the Azure Cloud Shell directly from the terminal.

Try out the new terminal today, and if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.


Sep262010September 26, 2010September 26, 20101Commentby Thomas Maurer

Enable Tiger “Classic” Style Dock In Leopard and Snow Leopard

Posted in Apple, Fun, Software

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO; killall DockIf you like the old or classic Dock Style from Mac OS X 10.4 you can enable this in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and in Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) Dock:

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger DockMac OS X 10.6 (Leopard) Dock:

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Dock

  1. Open Mac OS X Terminal in the Utilities folder
  2. Run the following command in the Terminal
    defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES; killall Dock
  3. Now you have the classic Dock activated

If you want to activate the new glass Dock again, you can use the following command:

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO; killall Dock



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    Thomas Maurer

    My name is Thomas Maurer. I am a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. I am part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. I am located in Switzerland. I am focusing on Microsoft technologies, especially cloud and datacenter solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and Windows Server. Opinions are my own.

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