Windows Vista in a Nutshell

Command Prompt Choices

Windows Vista provide three different components, all essentially different implementations of the command-line interface. These three components work similarly, but there are some important differences and limitations:

Command Prompt (cmd.exe)

Commonly referred to as a DOS box because of its visual and functional likeness to DOS, the Command Prompt window (see Figure 14-2) is the most complete implementation of the Command Prompt in Windows Vista. You can start any program, GUI- or command-line-based, by typing its executable filename at the prompt. In addition, a variety of internal DOS commands (discussed later in this chapter), used primarily for file management, can be executed at the prompt.

Figure 14-2. The Command Prompt window

If a command-line-based program is launched, it is run in the same window. Many Command Prompt applications simply display information and quit; in this case, you’d be returned to the prompt immediately after the program output.

An important distinction between the Command Prompt and the alternatives that follow is that the Command Prompt maintains context between commands. Each instance of the command interpreter runs in its own session, each with its own “environment.” The environment includes such information as the current directory, the search path (the directories in which the command interpreter looks for the commands ...