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Change Command Prompt's Default Font for Easier Reading
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 7:10 AM on May 13, 2008
The default prompt in Windows' Command Prompt isn't the easiest to read, but Microsoft has a font, Consolas, that works much better in a terminal, as attested to by our commenters. The Digital Inspiration blog runs down how to set Consolas as the default font in your command prompt. Vista users can perform a registry hack to enable their pre-installed Consolas, but XP users without Office 2007 can download the PowerPoint viewer to grab all the Vista fonts. Hit the link for installation and registry-tweaking instructions.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
AskTheAdmin
Posted 11:22 PM 12/5/08
I had switched over all my systems to Consolas a whiles back and now when I drop to cmd on a XP machine that's not mine I cringe a little :)
Ah thinking about it - it was probably right after i downloaded PowerPoint Viewer 2007! Thanks LH!
AskTheAdmin
klumsy
Posted 12:20 AM 13/5/08
and while you are at it, change from cmd.exe to PowerShell
klumsy
DHT
Posted 12:45 AM 13/5/08
Ewww. I just tried this and didn't like it at all.
It did inspire me to try the other options, though. I've been using the "Raster Fonts" 8x12 option for at least the last 3 years. Now after playing around with Consolas and Lucida Console options, I'm going to try out Lucida Console 14. Not ideal, and I see why some people might complain, but of the three choices, it's my preferred one for the moment. We'll see if I change my mind after using it for a day or two.
DHT
ICEBreaker
Posted 1:50 AM 13/5/08
I came across this Japanese font HiraKakuPro-N W3 totally by accident on my Mac, but it's been my favourite so far. I use it on almost everything, other than on formal documents, where only Courier New / Times New Roman would do.
[www.akibatec.net]
ICEBreaker
entropi
Posted 2:57 AM 13/5/08
I switched to a font called Dina (based off of another free font, proggy) recently in all of my programming applications and it's won me over. Servers the same purpose, but much better than Consolas in my opinion.
[www.donationcoder.com]
entropi
jackhab
Posted 3:44 AM 13/5/08
Consolas is very blurry, especially at small sizes (like 7 or 8). Reminds me default Linux fonts. I'll stick with Lucida which is clean and readable.
jackhab
jbc247
Posted 2:18 AM 13/5/08
I'm using windows XP, If I have power point 2007 installed, do I still need to download the 2007 viewer?
jbc247
Crashproof
Posted 5:40 AM 13/5/08
I'm not sure what all the love for Consolas is among developers. I can't stand it myself.
Bitstream Vera Sans Mono for me.
Crashproof
Posco Grubb
Posted 7:22 AM 13/5/08
Another vote for Bitstream Vera Sans Mono, which looks good in Linux and Windows, both with and without anti-aliasing or ClearType.
Boy, is this comment geeky or what??
Posco Grubb
ZenoKnukka
Posted 6:01 AM 13/5/08
You could also user excellent Console ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/) app to replace your regular cmd.exe. It features tabs and ton of customizations, including any font you desire. David, http://vidmar.net/weblog
ZenoKnukka
njrs
Posted 11:14 AM 13/5/08
My favorite non-proportional font is DejaVu Sans Mono (dejavu.sourceforge.net). I use it Visual Studio and other applications. Also, if you are running XP, check if you have the ClearType enabled (www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypeInfo.mspx)
njrs
yochanan_marqos
Posted 11:54 AM 13/5/08
Since the linked article assumes we all use Vista, what is the XP equivalent registry entry?
yochanan_marqos
mass2chaos
Posted 12:32 AM 14/5/08
Haha never knew you could get all the fonts from downloading the PPT viewer
mass2chaos
DeadlyDad
Posted 1:12 AM 14/5/08
Consolas is a very nice font... until you need linedraw or other 'IBM Extended ASCII' characters, at which point you have to switch back to Terminal or Lucida Console. (What I find interesting about Lucida Console is that the Extended ASCII characters are not found in their usual locations, but are mapped there, instead. I wonder how difficult this would be for other fonts.)
DeadlyDad