The Win32 subsystem certainly does enforce, at least in a default install, a lot of conventions that allow the system to maintain backwards compatibility with a

The Win32 subsystem certainly does enforce, at least in a default install, a lot of conventions that allow the system to maintain backwards compatibility with a long, long, MASSIVE legacy of software. Many, though not all, of them can be changed or disabled. That includes the command processor that interprets the batch language. If you think thats the only shell interpreter that is available for Windows, you should have a look at PowerShell. It's not too shabby.