Command Prompt
The Command Prompt opens a command line interface: a black, empty screen with the time-honored C:> prompt where you can type out instructions to the computer. This is a world without icons, menus, or dialog boxes; even the mouse is almost useless.
Surely you can appreciate the irony. The whole breakthrough of Windows was that it eliminated the DOS command-line interface that was still the ruling party on the computers of the day. Most nongeeks sighed with relief, delighted that they’d never have to memorize commands again. Yet here’s Windows 8, Microsoft’s supposedly ultramodern operating system, complete with a command line! What’s going on?
Actually, the command line never went away. At universities and corporations worldwide, professional computer nerds kept right on pounding away at the little C:> prompts, appreciating the efficiency and power such direct computer control afforded them.
You never have to use the command line. In fact, Microsoft has swept it far under the rug, obviously expecting that most people will use the beautiful icons and menus of the regular desktop.
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