5 Top Best Terminal Emulators for Windows
Elaine Brown
A terminal emulator is a program that emulates the functionalities of the traditional computer terminals. In simple words, unlike the classic terminal that performed functions using hardware, the terminal emulator executes the same tasks in software.
A terminal emulator enables a host computer to access a remote computer using a command-line or graphical interface.
Apart from accessing files on the other computer, the program also allows the host computer to run applications on the remote machine.
1. PuTTY – Most popular terminal emulator
PuTTY is a free serial console, terminal emulator, and the most popular SSH client. Written in C language and developed by Simon Tatham, PuTTY supports several network protocols such as Telnet, Secure copy protocol (SCP) login, and SSH. It is one of the oldest terminal emulators that are still actively developed and updated.
2. Cmder
Cmder is one of the most popular portable terminal emulators available for Windows OS. The program's official website states that it was developed ‘out of pure frustration’ noting that there were no available alternatives in the market. The software package is written in C++ and Powershell.
3. ZOC Terminal Emulator
ZOC is one of the best terminal emulators and SSH clients especially for programmers that want to access data on Unix machines from Windows. The software is not free but has impressive features for advanced users. It is a one-stop tool for developers as it integrates connectivity to text-based servers and remote machines.
4. ConEmu console emulator
ConEmu is an open-source tabbed console emulator distinctively developed for Windows. The tool provides multiple windows and customizable Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications as a single window.
5. Mintty console emulator for Cygwin
Mintty is an open-source console emulator for Cygwin – Unix-like functionality for Windows. As Cygwin natively runs on Windows OS, mintty does not need a display server. The software tool is perfect for programmers that predominantly use Cygwin for Windows shell. In fact, since 2011 minutes is Cygwin’s default terminal.
