[Tools] Monad, the MSH Beta

I have started to experiment with the new Microsoft Shell Beta (Monad) and was going to write a brilliant post about it but it appears that others have paved this road before me. So, I will just recommend that you check out these links:

• Installing Monad on XP or Win2k3
• Microsoft Command Shell: msh/Monad
• The .NET Show: Longhorn Fundamentals - introduces Monad
• ObjShell: A precursor of Monad?
• Stefan Demetz's nice collection of Monad Links

I, for one, am extremely happy to see the command line console evolve. I remember well when Microsoft almost abandoned it. Praise be to whoever put the kabosh on that braindead idea! Having evolved, myself, from the panel switch, the punchcard, paper tape, the infamous "terminal," to the DOS prompt, Windows System Console, Linux shell scripting (bash, csh, ksh, zsh), etc., I know that a great command shell is a thing of beauty and joy! Don't get me wrong, I appreciate grapnical user interfaces just as much. Contrary to conventional wisdumb, it is possible to use and like both.

Techies do not always realize that it is possible to live in more than one world at once. For many, there is one true path. I am not of that persuasion. One of the things that most attracts me about computing, my chosen profession and avocation, is that I can achieve a certain balance. I am mathematician and musician, right-brain and left-brain, big picture and fine detail, analyst and synthesist, architect and plumber (figuratively, at least), thinking and caring. Trust me, it works!

The bottom line of this article is that I think that the new msh/Monad shell ROCKS! Kudos to the team that created it!