In computing, a shell is a piece of software that essentially provides a kind of interface for end-users. Examples include the various Unix shells (sh, ksh, csh, tcsh, bash, etc.), DOS's command.com ('Command Prompt') etc.

A detailed comparison of shells which use the command line to serve their purpose, shows that it is quite difficult for novice computer user to remember the commands for different shells, if the user has never worked in that environment (OS).

Shell-X aims to deliver a better solution that would have the same commands and features across all operating systems. To achieve this we require technologies that are platform independent where java is the obvious choice.

Thus, the project is named Shell-X where 'X' stands for cross platform.