Until the advent of the Windows user interface, the command line processor, more commonly know as the DOS prompt, was the main user interface between computer users and their computer. The DOS prompt became the symbol for the difficulty of the using computers for many users. With Windows 95 and the Windows NT the importance of the command line user interface has been greatly diminished. The command line processor is still very important for the execution of commands in batch files. Batch files remain the most common way to execute several commands in sequence. The control of most of these commands is based on command line parameters and text input and output. The majority of them are legacy, but at the same time very powerful, system level commands.
Further information on changing the appearance and the behavior of the command line processor can be found in the section devoted to the Registry. Further information on tasks that can most easily accomplished with command line command is found in the Chapter on programming.
There are significant differences between the command line processor of Windows 95 and Windows NT, where the latter in general is much more powerful.
For more information see:
Using Command Separators for Sequential and Logical Execution of Commands (Windows NT Only)
Using File Handles for Redirection (Windows NT Only)