First off, I’d like to welcome the many of you who’ve just discovered Monad, and this blog.  The PDC was a great experience – I was glad to have had the chance to talk to so many of you in person.

One of the things I almost forget about, now that I basically live in the Monad shell, is how far it raises the bar for the command line, and how enthusiastic its users become.

Many of my conversations in the hands-on lab and track lounge started from a clean slate.  That is, talking to somebody that had never (or just barely) heard of Monad.  Extra points if the person gets misty-eyed as they talk of their 20 years of experience in the Unix environment.  You might think that would be a hostile crowd, but far from it.  Many of us on the team used to fit that description, as well.

After sitting down with somebody for a demo, they would soon start nodding their head in understanding and appreciation.  That would quickly progress to the “aha!” moment, where they realize how easily they can express themselves an object-oriented shell.

In text-only shells, people are often proud of their accomplishments because of how complex it was to express their intent – not because of how complex their intent was.  The rich composition model offered by an object-based pipeline truly empowers end-users.

As I took a break at the tables near the Starbucks, this infectious enthusiasm really hit home.  I saw two attendees walk by, one of them enthusiastically speaking to the other with waving hands, and excited eyes.  His evangelism brought a smile to my face: “… but it’s OBJECTS going down the pipeline!”

So where from here?  There are many great Monad resources to help you get settled into your new shell:

Monad Team Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/monad/default.aspx
Adam Barr’s Blog: http://www.proudlyserving.com/
My earlier posts: http://www.leeholmes.com/blog/
Reskit.net: http://www.reskit.net/monad/
Channel 9 Wiki: http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.MSHWiki
Newsgroup: nntp://microsoft.public.windows.server.scripting,
MSDN: http://winfx.msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/monad_gettingstarted/html/e72d9b1b-c1c0-41f0-83e7-d230ff3f9144.asp

[Edit: Monad has now been renamed to Windows PowerShell. This script or discussion may require slight adjustments before it applies directly to newer builds.]