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About the Console for Windows

Note: This project has been abandoned. Please see this page for more details.

The Console for Windows (or the CFW) uses the idea of the console found in several popular 3D games, such as Quake, Half-Life, and Unreal. Usually, in these games you can press a key, display a "console", and enter text commands to change certain things about the game.

The difference is that the CFW makes this work inside Windows -- hiding off-screen until activated by a user-configurable hotkey. The default hotkey is CTRL+SHIFT+Q, but can be changed to whatever you want (within reason; certain hotkeys will interfere with the operation of other programs). The Console will animate down from the top of the screen, and you are presented with a command line onto which you can type commands to do things with Windows. (see it in action!)

Even if you're not a fast typer, the Console can help you, thanks to its optional automatic completion of half-typed commands (like what you get in your Web browser's address bar).

I hear you say: "but what's the use of a command line? DOS is dead; you can't do anything with a command line nowadays". That's not the truth -- just look at Linux, for example, which is heavily command line driven. For some people, who are good with a keyboard, it can often be easier to press a hotkey, and then type something to start a program, rather than leaving the keyboard, finding the mouse, and playing hide-and-seek with the Start menu. And then, some people are just die-hard command-line fans (like FreeFoote!).

The CFW converts these commands into an action to perform. Central to the program are "bindings" -- keywords which have been set to do certain things. For example, the keyword "word" can be bound to starting Microsoft Word. But you can do more than just run programs. You can open documents, display web pages, show Control Panel applets, open or explore folders -- quite a number of actions are built into the CFW.

And then there are some built-in commands -- like DATE and TIME, STATS and SHUTDOWN. Shutdown is very useful; by typing SHUTDOWN, you can shut down your computer -- or, by typing SHUTDOWN RESTART, you can restart your computer. If you're a keyboarder, that's much easier than playing with the mouse!

The Console for Windows is also highly configurable. You can make the console look and feel how you want -- change the fonts, colours, and background images. There are also options that change how the program works, too, to help you make it what you want it to be.

However, do note that the Console isn't for everyone. It is aimed more at the "power-users" of the computing world -- those who know the best ways to get things done, and know all sorts of tips and tricks by which to do things. That's not to say that others can not use it; FreeFoote has had emails from many people using it who are not "power-users", as such.

All I can recommend, if you are wondering if its right for you, is to try it. You can always remove it from your computer ... but please don't do that(!)