The terminal emulator is something that you have probably used on Windows when utilizing the Command Prompt or PowerShell shells. To date, the default terminal emulator that is used for command line applications has always been Windows Console Host (conhost.exe), and to switch this to something like Windows Terminal has not been a straightforward process. However, this is changing soon.
As noted by Microsoft, it will soon allow users to set different terminals as defaults, including Windows Terminal and other third-party options. This option is already available in Windows 11 for Windows Terminal and there are multiple ways to enable this including the Windows Settings page (screenshot above), Windows Terminal’s settings on the Startup page, or the property sheet for Windows Console Host.
Right now, the default terminal emulator in Windows 11 is set to Windows Console Host, but users do have the option to change it to Windows Terminal quite easily using any of the aforementioned methods.
An additional change that Microsoft is planning is that it is switching the default terminal app in Windows 11 to Windows Terminal. This modification will be rolled out in 2022 via the Windows Insider Program first before being made available generally. Microsoft hasn"t defined a firm timeline as of yet, but it"s clear that we can expect this to happen sometime next year.