Windows Vista Open Command Prompt Secret

Tim Sneath, Windows Vista Technical Evangelist has begun revealing on the homonym Blog windows Vista secrets. In this context, Sneath stated that the Redmond Company has introduced a number of hidden features in its upcoming operating system. "I don't know about your workflow as a developer, but I often find myself switching back and forward between an Explorer window and the command shell. For example, sometimes I'm looking around the filesystem for a project that I created a while back and then I want to build it from the command line or rename some of the files or something," said Sneath, describing the way he works and the reason catalyzing the use of the Open Command Prompt.

Normally, right-clicking on a folder in Windows Vista brings up a contextual menu that basically contains the options already available in Windows XP and prior versions of the operating system. Open, Explore, Search, Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename and the classical Properties. But Windows Vista right-click menus reveal an additional option. "Here's a trick that I don't think many people are aware of. Right-click on any folder on your Windows Vista machine while holding down the shift key. You'll see an extra context-sensitive menu item there: Open Command Prompt here. Just click on this menu and a command window will open with the current working directory set to the folder's actual location," described Sneath.

Sneath also reminded that Windows XP has a similar function that is accessible via the integration of a powertoy. The Windows Vista developing team has decided to embed the feature in the operating system. "What's really cool about this is that if the target folder is a network location, Windows Vista silently maps a network drive to that location before opening the folder (so that your command prompt has a valid path containing a drive letter) and then deletes the network drive once the command prompt is closed," concluded Sneath.