Terminal Comparison

Hello everyone,

I want to hear some comparison between the MAC OSX terminal app and the iTerm2 application. what are their pros and cons and which will you prefer and why?

Vasil

Comments

[Ben Halpern]

While some might hate the idea of a web-technology-based terminal, some folks really seem to love Hyper.

[Ali Spittel]

I like ITerm primarily because of the multiple panes! I think there are other customizations you can use as well, but that's my main reason!

[Valentin Baca]

Some key features of iTerm:

• Free
• Lightweight / Fast
• Easily and highly customizable, but also "just works" out of the box
• Configurable notifications (show me the bell sound, don't make that godawful noise)
• Color tabs
• Switching between tabs with Command+1, Command+2, etc.
• Command+Clicking a url (say in my notes open in Vim) goes to the page! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this feature. Caveat: it has had a security issue in the past, so be aware to not hover over sensitive data while holding Cmd.
• Panes
• Tmux integration (if you're not using tmux or screen or something equivalent, start now)
• Optional Cmd+Q protection (redundant with tmux, but still nice)

Essentially, the only reason not to install iTerm is if you don't have permissions to install apps :)

[Vasil Vasilev]

I loved your answer!
Totally agree with you iTerm is LOVE :D

[Ben Sinclair]

I don't know what the state is today, but historically (as with a lot of bundled software) the Mac app has lagged pretty far behind other modern terminals with features such as split-screens, colour and mouse support.

Even if it has caught up today, I suspect many people are just in the habit of installing iTerm on new machines.

[Daniel Toebe]

With iTerm2 I am able to use mouse mode on vim. I can have a NERDTree buffer, and 2 other buffers with files open. And I can scroll as if it were any non terminal editor