Enhance Windows CLI Experience

Background
My client uses Check Point VPN solution, which does not provide a native Linux client. My work around has been to run Windows XP as a VM for VPN purposes.

Problem
Windows lacks numerous Unix tools which I have grown accustomed to and to make matters worse, Windows XP cmd shell is a complete piece of crap.

Solution
Open Source to the rescue! By combining Cygwin and Console, I have achieved command line usability *almost* at par with my Linux desktop environment.

Once you find a fast,reliable mirror site, installing Cygwin is straight forward, . Here is a list of non-default packages which I find quite useful:

1. Editors - vim
   
2. Net - netcat, openssh, rsync, stunnel
3. Security - pwgen
4. Shells - bash-completion
   
5. Utils - diffutils, keychain, screen
6. Web - lynx

There is no installer for Console (version 2), it is available for download in zip format. Here are few tweaks I did to replace Windows cmd as the terminal program for Cygwin and configure Cygwin as the default shell for Console:

1. Modify the Cygwin desktop shortcut and specify Console.exe as the Target.
   
   Shortcut >> Target >> D:\Console2\Console.exe
   
   
2. Apply the following settings to your Console.exe preferences:
   
   Console:
   Shell >>D:\cygwin\bin\bash.exe --login -i
   Startup dir >> d:\cygwin\bin
   
   Behavior:
   Copy & Paste >> Copy on select
   Copy newline character >> Unix (LF)
   
   Hotkeys:
   New Tab 1 >> Ctr + Shift + T
   Rename tab >> Ctr + Shift + R
   
   Tabs:
   Main >> Shell >>D:\cygwin\bin\bash.exe --login -i
   Main >> Startup dir >> d:\cygwin\bin
   

Thats it! Enjoy the usability of a Linux style terminal and shell in Windows environment. So long putty, good-bye cmd.exe!

VVK