Command Prompt Envy

Sandro MancusoMarch 9th, 2016Last Updated: February 29th, 2016

1 55 1 minute read

I’m spending my time between Mac OS and Windows, and when I go back to my Windows machine I always feel the lack of my Mac command prompt.

Almost a year ago Amir posted how you can get a nice command prompt on a Mac. I’ve always wanted a post like that, but for a Windows machine. Today I stumbled upon Babun, gave it a try and TADA! I was able to get a command prompt exactly like the one I have on my Mac.

Follow these steps to get your shiny Windows command prompt

Download Babun from http://babun.github.io/ (272 MB) (Do not use Google Chrome to download since, for some reason, it will download the file but marks it as unsafe and deletes it).
Unzip the downloaded archive
Execute “install.bat” to install Babun to C:\Users\YOURUSER\.babun or execute “install.bat /t PATH_TO_INTALLATION_LOCATION” When the installation finishes you should be greeted with this …

One more tweek

We already have a cool prompt, try to navigate to a git repository. We want just a bit more. Let’s try a more colourful theme. Let’s use the “Bullet train” theme:

Execute the folowing commands cd cd .oh-my-zsh/themes/ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/caiogondim/bullet-train-oh-my-zsh-theme/master/bullet-train.zsh-theme cd vim .zshrc (nano is also available by default in Babun if you prefer it to vim)

Change this line ZSH_THEME="your current theme" to ZSH_THEME="bullet-train"
Save the file and exit your editor
Close and reopen Babun
You will be greeted with… a disappointing result

But don’t despair, we will fix it.

You need a font that supports powerline. I suggest Consolas for powerline, but any font that supports powerline should work.

Download it, double click it and select install on the dialog:
Right click on the top bar of the terminal, you should see a pop up menu, select options
In the dialog select Text on the left and then select a new font. Select Powerline Consolas or just Consolas. Press ‘Ok’ and ‘Ok’.
Marvel at your shiny command prompt.