The terminal is approachable and can be fun—practice shortcuts to make it your go-to over a GUI. Learn history, !!, Ctrl+R, tab completion, pwd, and cursor shortcuts to edit and reuse commands fast.

The command line interface is a throwback to a more basic age of computing. Before mouse pointers and application windows and desktop wallpaper, you would interact with your computer through simple ...

It’s not always easy to figure out where to find your computer’s specs—that is, it’s not easy unless you use the command line. Type “systeminfo” and press Enter to get a detailed readout of everything ...