Introduction
In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Putty and iTerm2, two popular terminal emulators. Terminal emulators are software applications that allow users to access a command-line interface on their computers.
User Interface (UI): Putty primarily focuses on simplicity and minimalism in its user interface. It offers a straightforward and basic design with limited customization options. On the other hand, iTerm2 provides a more feature-rich UI with extensive customization capabilities. It offers various themes, fonts, and layout options, allowing users to personalize their terminal experience.
Operating System Compatibility: Putty is primarily designed for Windows operating systems and is not natively available for other operating systems like macOS or Linux. In contrast, iTerm2 is specifically developed for macOS and offers advanced functionalities tailored to the macOS ecosystem. There is no native support for Windows or Linux platforms.
Session Management: Putty is known for its excellent session management capabilities. It allows users to save session configurations, which they can easily load to establish connections with remote servers. iTerm2 also offers session management features, but it takes it a step further by providing more advanced features like window arrangements, instant replay, and the ability to set rules for automatically opening specific sessions.
Advanced Features: iTerm2 is renowned for its extensive feature set. It provides features such as split panes, tabs, hotkeys, and mouse interactions that enhance user productivity and multitasking. Putty, on the other hand, offers a more bare-bones approach and lacks many advanced features found in iTerm2.
Scripting and Automation: Putty has limited capabilities when it comes to scripting and automation. It supports basic scripting with its own scripting language, but it is not as versatile as iTerm2's scripting abilities. iTerm2 comes with advanced scripting options, allowing users to write complex scripts using a wide range of scripting languages like Python or AppleScript.
Integration with Third-Party Tools: iTerm2 provides better integration with various third-party tools commonly used by developers and system administrators. It supports integration with tools like Shell Integration, tmux, and Zsh, enhancing the overall terminal experience. Putty, on the other hand, lacks such extensive integrations.
In summary, Putty and iTerm2 differ significantly in their user interface, operating system compatibility, session management capabilities, advanced features, scripting and automation abilities, and integration with third-party tools. While Putty focuses on simplicity and Windows compatibility, iTerm2 offers a feature-rich experience tailored for macOS users, with extensive customization options, advanced features, and better integration with other tools.
What are some alternatives to iTerm2 and Putty?
Hyper
Hyper.sh is a secure container hosting service. What makes it different from AWS (Amazon Web Services) is that you don't start servers, but start docker images directly from Docker Hub or other registries.
Hyper Terminal
The goal of the project is to create a beautiful and extensible experience for command-line interface users, built on open web standards. Focus will be primarily around speed and stability.
tmux
It enables a number of terminals to be created, accessed, and controlled from a single screen. tmux may be detached from a screen and continue running in the background, then later reattached.
Termius
The #1 cross-platform terminal with built-in ssh client which works as your own portable server management system in any situation.
JavaScript
JavaScript is most known as the scripting language for Web pages, but used in many non-browser environments as well such as node.js or Apache CouchDB. It is a prototype-based, multi-paradigm scripting language that is dynamic,and supports object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles.
