Terminals
11 tools
Terminal, shell or command line?
When you are starting out, they all mean the same thing: a window where you type a command and press Enter. Strictly, the terminal is the window and the shell is the program inside it that runs what you type, such as PowerShell, bash or zsh. Your computer already has one, so you do not need to install anything to begin.
On Windows
Open Windows Terminal from the Start menu. It runs PowerShell, which handles npm, npx and git commands. Install Git for Windows as well and you also get Git Bash, handy for guides written for Mac or Linux.
On a Mac
Terminal comes with every Mac. Press Cmd+Space, type Terminal and press Enter. It runs zsh, which works with almost every guide you will find.
On Linux
Your desktop comes with one: Ptyxis on recent Ubuntu, Konsole on KDE. On Ubuntu, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open it.
Which one do I need? Start with the terminal already on your computer. Once commands feel normal, try Warp or Wave if you want AI to explain errors or suggest the next command.
Wave Terminal
An open-source terminal with AI and file previews built in.
Open sourceWindowsmacOSLinux
