Earlier this year Microsoft held a “Microsoft Build 2016” conference, where they unveiled their latest plans for Windows, and Windows 10. One new feature has got Developers everywhere rejoicing, and that is the introduction of the popular Linux program – Bash – into Windows 10.
Bash? What am I bashing?
Okay, so I should probably explain what exactly “bash” is. It’s a command line tool for developers and server administrators, which allows you to navigate a computer or server in a text based manner, rather than through a Graphical User Interface.
But why is this such a big deal?
Bash is shipped with all Linux distributions, as well as Apple’s OSX Operating System. This makes it hugely popular amongst developers and server administrators as it is the de-facto standard shell. This means that developers everywhere are simply used to it, and using Windows own alternative “Command Prompt” was a learning curve, and a bit of a pain. Commands were all completely different, and it wasn’t as advanced as bash.
This represents a step in the right direction on the part of Microsoft, adopting more Open Source alternatives and also making Windows more familiar to existing Linux / Mac users.
Bish Bash Bosh
The new functionality will be enabled as part of this summer’s Anniversary Update to Windows 10.