Welcome (back) to the command line

The Windows "Monad" Shell Beta 2 can be downloaded from MS, here. To quote em:

Windows "Monad" Shell is a new interactive command-line and task-based scripting technology in Windows that enables administrators to more efficiently and securely automate and control system management tasks on both desktops and servers. "Monad" Shell provides powerful task-based control (via built-in command line tools and utilities) and a powerful scripting language that enables comprehensive scripted control of the Windows operating system and applications. The key features of Monad include


* Simplified command-based navigation of the operating system (including drives, startup files, and registry).

* Command extensibility that allows administrators to quickly write scripts, customize commands, and author their own shell tools.

* Powerful object manipulation capabilities (objects can be directly manipulated or pipelined to other tools or databases).

* Direct control of system data (without the need to perform error-prone text parsing and object lookup).

* Powerful aliasing and output formatting capabilities.

* Support for existing scripts and command line tools.

Note that you also need to download .Net Framework Ver 2.0