Due to the nature of its graphical user interface, windows shell has been ignored for a long time. It's true that having a point-and-click interface doesn't require learning and remembering, but to boost your productivity, master the art of command line is a must. Be sure to install the cygwin environment and expose its bin folder into your %PATH% variable will bring tons of powerful Unix tools into your windows arsenal with almost no cost.

One thing I really love about the shell is its capability to jump right into your destination folder. For example, if you're developing your FireFox extension, following tips might be quite handy to you.

1. Jump into folders

set FIREFOX_INSTALL_DIR = "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox"
set FIREFOX_DEV_PROFILE = "C:\Documents and Settings\adong\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\k5b2sa
58.Dev"
// Now you could jump right into it by typing:
cd %FIREFOX_INSTALL_DIR%
cd %FIREFOX_DEV_PROFILE%

2. Start the FireFox in a 'dev' mode by

// instead of "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P dev
set MOZ_NO_REMOTE=1
%FIREFOX_INSTALL_DIR%\firefox.exe -P dev

3. Or, find the merge point id for the "stausbar"

$ grep -r -n "statusbar .* id=" %firefox_install_dir% | grep ".\.xul:"