monad: we do things our own (weird) way
Why reinvent the wheel? Why not, said Microsoft, and created the Microsoft Shell beta version 2 (codenamed monad). Read the Ars Technica review, and then some comments from Slashdot. If you have too much time and want to fill pages of personal data for them to mine, try the free msh download link as well (beware you need the .NET platform installed).
From reading the reviews, first impressions are that it's a very complex product; with various inspirational sources. Might also be that in their attempt to simplify things, they created a messy product; that stands no chance against the mature *nix tools. However it's been only 4 months since monad's first beta release; their rush might signal a massive release marketing campaign.
