I recently received an email regarding the official public release of Monad, the new Microsoft Shell (MSH) that I believe deserves a HUGE amount of attention for two reasons:

- For a company who has built their entire foundation on a GUI-focused OS, to then respond to market demands by creating what every UNIX weenie on the planet will begin to salivate for is pretty remarkable in my opinion.

- Directly related to this… just as community-based software development is supposed to work, MS took the lead of the UNIX command line, started from scratch, and made it better. As such, both my hope AND my guess is that the UNIX community will borrow the result right back :)

Possibly as part of the Mono-Project? I don’t know, but it would certainly seem to make the most sense. That said, maybe they have? Not sure… Anybody out there know?

In the mean time here are a few highlights from the email recently sent to beta participants by Leonard Chung, Program Manager - Windows “Monad” Shell:

Thank you for your participation in the Monad Betaplace program!

The Monad team has recently released Monad Beta 3.1 to Microsoft Download Center and we’re working diligently towards a release of Monad 1.0!

An updated Monad User Guide and Developer documentation are now available in the new Monad Documentation pack, as well as a repository for Monad scripts thanks to our good friends over at Technet Script Center!

Whether you are a Monad novice or guru, the following Monad resources are sure to have something to pique your interest:

* Download the latest version of Monad and the Monad Documentation Pack at Download Center:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads and search for “Monad” (Be sure to uninstall any old versions of Monad before installing Monad Beta 3.1)

* Share suggestions and submit bug reports at Connect:
http://connect.microsoft.com/availableprograms.aspx

* Browse the Monad script repository and read up on Monad script tips at Technet Script Center:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/hubs/msh.mspx

* Create MshCmdlets and MshProviders using the Monad Developer reference on MSDN:
http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref12/html/N_System_Management_Automation.asp

* Discuss Monad with Monad team members, Monad MVPs, and Monad enthusiasts in the scripting newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.server.scripting:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/newsgroups/dgbrowser/en-us/default.mspx?query=microsoft.public.windows.server.scripting&dg=&cat=en-us-technet-appcenter&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=328BAFD2-1A81-4558-B1DE-B6EB49F31B7E&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us

* Get the latest scoop on Monad on the blogs by Monad MVPs and team members. Here’s a list of some of the ones out there:
Monad Team Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/monad

Arul Kumaravel’s Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/arulk
Keith Hill’s Blog: http://spaces.msn.com/keithhill
Lee Holmes’ Blog: http://www.leeholmes.com/blog
Marc van Orsouw’s Blog: http://mow001.blogspot.com
Thomas Lee’s Blog: http://tfl09.blogspot.com

* Read all about Monad in the first published book on Monad. Published by O’Reilly, this book is available to view online as well as for purchase in stores.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/msh

Finally, we’re always looking for ways to improve the Monad community and to better understand how Monad is being used around the world. If you’re using Monad today and it’s been helpful or you’ve done something with Monad that you think is super cool and worth sharing, we’d love to hear your story! The same goes for if you have any ideas for topics, areas, and events not covered here but you wish you had. To send us your stories and feedback, visit the Monad Connect website at http://connect.microsoft.com/.

If you haven’t used the Monad Connect site before you’ll need to do a quick registration if you haven’t visited Connect before.

How to register for the MS Connect site:
1. Visit http://connect.microsoft.com/
2. Click on “Available Programs” on the left and sign in with your Microsoft Passport credentials.
3. Click “Apply” next to the the item “Windows “Monad” Shell”.
4. Scroll down to the bottom and click the “Monad Feedback” link under “Surveys”.

If you are already subscribed to the Monad Connect site:
1. Click on “My Participation” and sign in with your Microsoft Passport credentials.
2. Click “Windows “Monad” Shell”.
3. Scroll down to the bottom and click the “Monad Feedback” link under “Surveys”.

Thanks again for your support and feedback! We hope you have as much fun with Monad as we’ve had making it!

Leonard Chung
Program Manager - Windows “Monad” Shell