This is the difference between Command Prompt, PowerShell and Windows Terminal

The computer command line interface can be used to enter commands and scripts. This allows all kinds of commands to be executed without clicking on them. In modern Windows versions, at least three versions are included: Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Windows Terminal. While the differences may not be obvious at first glance, they are nonetheless.

Command Prompt, also called CMD after Command Prompt in English, is the “default” cli on Windows. All kinds of commands and complete scripts can be entered at once to interact with the system and edit applications or files. The interface is simple in black and white, without accents.

With PowerShell, you can do everything Command Prompt can, using extensions for system administrators and IT professionals. This includes scheduling when a task is performed, script reuse and more useful functions. All of this is intended to help automate systems management.

PowerShell is fully compatible with CMD, but it uses a different network-based instruction set which supports setting user aliases to speed up commonly used commands. Colors are used to indicate different types of text, and errors are always red. The background is distinctive blue.

Windows Terminal is an open source application that supports several shells, including Command Prompt and PowerShell. Uniquely, the popular BASH is supported on Linux as well, thanks to the Windows subsystem for Linux. Multiple tabs can be used simultaneously, for example working in one window via ssh on another system and running Ubuntu in other windows or using PowerShell on your computer.

There is also support for Unicode and UTF, where emojis and other special characters can be added. The screen is fully customizable with fonts, backgrounds, and accent colors. This makes Windows Terminal the most powerful of the three tools, as it has the functionality of both the other apps and much more built in. Recently, it has also become the default terminal on Windows 11, and development continues.

In February, another important addition was made, which made it possible to automatically open new tabs as an administrator.

Sources:
Windows Club† TechWiser

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