A small story about terminals and my change in preference.
In my daily work, having a fast, reliable terminal isn’t a luxury — it’s essential. Over the years, I drifted from iTerm2 to Hyper and, finally, to Rio — along the way learning when features become burdens, and when simplicity is a virtue.
iTerm2 — The Reliable Workhorse
I started with iTerm2...
It was my “go-to” terminal: mature, dependable, full of bells and whistles.
What I appreciated
Tabs, panes, profiles, search, triggers — robust features out of the box.
What frustrated me over time
I guess the lack of customizability, which I came to realize is important to me.
Why I moved on
It felt like I was carrying too much weight. I wanted something lighter, more nimble.
Hyper — The Tinkerer’s Playground
Next, I installed Hyper.
It was fun — a terminal I could tweak, theme, and extend endlessly.
What I loved
Full theming through CSS/JS, a rich plugin ecosystem, visual flair — it felt dynamic and modern.
What wore thin
Because it’s based on Electron, it carried performance penalties: slow startup, creeping memory use, plugin breakage. After upgrading macOS (Tahoe era), things began to crumble—launch delays, CSS quirks, unresponsive windows.
Why I left
The joy of customization didn’t outweigh the daily drag of performance issues.
Rio — The Elegant Minimalist
Then I encountered Rio Terminal.
It felt like coming home to something efficient and clean.
What I admire now
Rust core, hardware-accelerated rendering, minimal fuss, and maximum responsiveness = speed!
What I sometimes miss
Advanced integrations or automations I once had in iTerm2/plugins aren’t all there yet, since Rio is still evolving.
...thats said, I am still loving their simple configuration format.
Why I stayed
Snappy startup, fewer moving parts to constantly maintain, yet staying configurable enough to satisfy my "configuration itch"
In the end...
Right now, I’m settled in Rio’s clean, high-performance world. The journey goes on — and let’s see where it will take me in a couple of years.