It’s been an exciting week since I got my new MacBook, and I’ve been eager to explore its capabilities. As a Windows user familiar with the Command Line Interface (CLI), I was curious to see how my skills would transfer to a UNIX-based system like macOS. While my experience with Linux helped ease the transition, I still encountered some differences that took some getting used to.

In this article, I’ve compiled my findings and experiences. Let’s dive in below for the differences

Networking Commands

Command/Tool	Windows	Linux	macOS	Example
Ping	ping	ping	ping	ping google.com
Trace Route	tracert	traceroute	traceroute	tracert google.com (Windows), traceroute google.com (Linux/macOS)
IP Configuration	ipconfig	ifconfig or ip a	ifconfig	ipconfig (Windows), ifconfig (Linux/macOS)
Display Network	netstat	netstat	netstat	netstat -an
DNS Lookup	nslookup	nslookup	nslookup	nslookup google.com
Network Diagnostics	pathping	mtr	mtr	pathping google.com (Windows), mtr google.com (Linux/macOS)
Download Files	bitsadmin	wget	curl	bitsadmin /transfer jobname /download /priority foreground https://example.com/file.zip C:\file.zip (Windows), wget https://example.com/file.zip (Linux/macOS)
Check Listening Ports	netstat -an	ss -tuln	netstat -an	netstat -an
SSH Connection	PuTTY	ssh	ssh	PuTTY (Windows), ssh user@hostname (Linux/macOS)
FTP Client	ftp	ftp	ftp	ftp ftp.example.com

Security Commands

Command/Tool	Windows	Linux	macOS	Example
User Management	net user	useradd, usermod, userdel	dscl . -create	net user username /add (Windows), useradd username (Linux), dscl . -create /Users/username (macOS)
Change Password	net user	passwd	passwd	net user username * (Windows), passwd username (Linux/macOS)
File Permissions	icacls	chmod, chown	chmod, chown	icacls file.txt /grant user:F (Windows), chmod 755 file.txt (Linux/macOS)
Firewall Config	netsh advfirewall	iptables, ufw	pfctl	netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state off (Windows), ufw enable (Linux), sudo pfctl -e (macOS)
Encrypt Files	BitLocker	gpg, cryptsetup	gpg	BitLocker (GUI for Windows), gpg -c file.txt (Linux/macOS)
View Logs	Event Viewer	dmesg, journalctl	log show	Event Viewer (Windows), journalctl -xe (Linux), log show (macOS)
Disable Account	net user	usermod -L	dscl . -create	net user username /active:no (Windows), usermod -L username (Linux), dscl . -create /Users/username (macOS)
Enable Account	net user	usermod -U	dscl . -create	net user username /active:yes (Windows), usermod -U username (Linux), dscl . -create /Users/username (macOS)
View Active Connections	netstat -an	ss	netstat -an	netstat -an
Security Updates	Windows Update	apt-get update	Software Update	Windows Update (GUI for Windows), apt-get update (Linux), Software Update (GUI for macOS)

File Operations

Command/Tool	Windows	Linux	macOS	Example
List Files	dir	ls	ls	dir (Windows), ls (Linux/macOS)
Change Directory	cd	cd	cd	cd C:\Users (Windows), cd /home/user (Linux/macOS)
Copy Files	copy or xcopy	cp	cp	copy file.txt D:\ (Windows), cp file.txt /home/user (Linux/macOS)
Move/Rename Files	move	mv	mv	move file.txt D:\ (Windows), mv file.txt /home/user (Linux/macOS)
Delete Files	del or erase	rm	rm	del file.txt (Windows), rm file.txt (Linux/macOS)
Create Directory	mkdir	mkdir	mkdir	mkdir newfolder
Remove Directory	rmdir	rmdir or rm -r	rmdir or rm -r	rmdir newfolder
Display File Contents	type	cat	cat	type file.txt (Windows), cat file.txt (Linux/macOS)
Find Text in Files	findstr	grep	grep	findstr "text" file.txt (Windows), grep "text" file.txt (Linux/macOS)
Compare Files	fc	diff	diff	fc file1.txt file2.txt (Windows), diff file1.txt file2.txt (Linux/macOS)

System Information Commands

Command/Tool	Windows	Linux	macOS	Example
System Info	systeminfo	uname -a	uname -a	systeminfo (Windows), uname -a (Linux/macOS)
Disk Usage	chkdsk	df and du	df and du	chkdsk (Windows), df -h (Linux/macOS)
Memory Usage	systeminfo	free	vm_stat	systeminfo (Windows), free -h (Linux), vm_stat (macOS)
Uptime	systeminfo	uptime	uptime	systeminfo (Windows), uptime (Linux/macOS)
Hardware Info	wmic	lshw	system_profiler	wmic cpu get name (Windows), lshw (Linux), system_profiler (macOS)
List USB Devices	wmic path CIM_LogicalDevice where “Description like ‘USB%'” get /value	lsusb	system_profiler SPUSBDataType	wmic path CIM_LogicalDevice where "Description like 'USB%'" get /value (Windows), lsusb (Linux), system_profiler SPUSBDataType (macOS)
Kernel Messages	Event Viewer	dmesg	dmesg	Event Viewer (Windows), dmesg (Linux/macOS)
Check Date and Time	date	date	date	date /T (Windows), date (Linux/macOS)
Check Time Zone	tzutil	timedatectl	systemsetup	tzutil /g (Windows), timedatectl (Linux), systemsetup -gettimezone (macOS)
Installed Packages	wmic product get name	dpkg –list or rpm -qa	system_profiler SPInstallHistoryDataType	wmic product get name (Windows), dpkg --list (Debian-based Linux), rpm -qa (Red Hat-based Linux), system_profiler SPInstallHistoryDataType (macOS)

Process Management Commands

Command/Tool	Windows	Linux	macOS	Example
List Processes	tasklist	ps or top	ps or top	tasklist (Windows), ps aux (Linux/macOS)
Kill Process	taskkill	kill or killall	kill or killall	taskkill /PID <pid> (Windows), kill <pid> (Linux/macOS)
Prioritize Process	wmic process where name=”processname” CALL setpriority “priority”	renice, nice	renice, nice	wmic process where name="notepad.exe" CALL setpriority "above normal" (Windows), renice +10 1234 (Linux/macOS)
Start a Process	start	&, nohup, screen	open	start notepad.exe (Windows), ./program & (Linux), open -a "TextEdit" file.txt (macOS)
Stop a Service	net stop	systemctl stop	launchctl unload	net stop servicename (Windows), systemctl stop servicename (Linux), launchctl unload service.plist (macOS)
Restart a Service	net stop and net start	systemctl restart	launchctl stop	net stop servicename and net start servicename (Windows), systemctl restart servicename (Linux), launchctl stop servicename and launchctl start servicename (macOS)
Check Process Activity	perfmon	top, htop	top	perfmon (Windows), top (Linux/macOS)
Check Open Files	handle	lsof	lsof	handle filename (Windows), lsof filename (Linux/macOS)
Background Process	start or start-process	&, nohup, screen	&, nohup, screen	start notepad.exe (Windows), ./program & (Linux), nohup command & (macOS)

Battery and Power Information Commands

Command/Tool	Windows	Linux	macOS	Example
Battery Status	powercfg /batteryreport	acpi, upower, cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/status	system_profiler SPPowerDataType	powercfg /batteryreport (Windows), acpi -b (Linux), system_profiler SPPowerDataType (macOS)
Power Plan Info	powercfg /l	cat /sys/class/power_supply/AC/online, cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_now	pmset -g	powercfg /l (Windows), cat /sys/class/power_supply/AC/online (Linux), pmset -g (macOS)
Battery Health	powercfg /batteryhealthreport	upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT0	system_profiler SPPowerDataType	powercfg /batteryhealthreport (Windows), upower -i /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT0 (Linux), system_profiler SPPowerDataType (macOS)
Power Settings	powercfg	powertop, tlp	pmset	powercfg (Windows), powertop (Linux), pmset (macOS)
Battery Usage	powercfg /batteryreport	acpi, upower, cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_full_design	system_profiler SPPowerDataType	powercfg /batteryreport (Windows), acpi -b (Linux), system_profiler SPPowerDataType (macOS)
Charging Status	powercfg /batteryreport	acpi, upower, cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/status	system_profiler SPPowerDataType	powercfg /batteryreport (Windows), acpi -b (Linux), system_profiler SPPowerDataType (macOS)

Scripting and Automation Commands Comparison

Scripting and automation are essential for streamlining tasks and enhancing productivity. Here’s a comparison of commonly used commands in batch scripting for Windows and shell scripting for Linux/macOS:

Task	Batch (Windows)	Shell (Linux/macOS)	Example
Comment	REM	#	REM This is a comment (Windows), # This is a comment (Linux/macOS)
Assign Variable	SET	VAR=	SET var=value (Windows), VAR=value (Linux/macOS)
Echo Output	ECHO	echo	ECHO Hello, World! (Windows), echo "Hello, World!" (Linux/macOS)
Run Command	CALL	( )	CALL command (Windows), (command) (Linux/macOS)
Conditional Execution	IF	if	IF condition (command) (Windows), if [ condition ]; then command; fi (Linux/macOS)
Looping	FOR	for	FOR /L %%variable IN (start,step,end) DO command (Windows), for variable in list; do command; done (Linux/macOS)
Check File Existence	IF EXIST	[ -e ]	IF EXIST filename (command) (Windows), [ -e filename ] && command (Linux/macOS)
File Operations	COPY, MOVE, DEL	cp, mv, rm	COPY source destination (Windows), cp source destination (Linux/macOS)
Text Processing	FINDSTR	grep	FINDSTR "pattern" filename (Windows), grep "pattern" filename (Linux/macOS)
Environment Variables	%VAR%	$VAR	ECHO %VAR% (Windows), echo $VAR (Linux/macOS)
Run as Administrator	Run as administrator	sudo	Right-click and select “Run as administrator” (Windows), sudo command (Linux/macOS)
Copy File	COPY	cp	COPY C:\source\file.txt D:\destination\file.txt (Windows), cp /path/to/source/file.txt /path/to/destination/file.txt (Linux/macOS)

My exploration of command line interfaces has led me to the following conclusions:

• Windows: Uses a different kernel (Windows NT), so its CLI commands are distinct, requiring a different set of skills.
• Linux/macOS: Both are UNIX-based, making their terminal commands similar and familiar if you have experience with one.