What happened to the terminal?

I've been installing a lot of different operating systems recently for testing different things, and there's an interesting issue going on with the location of the 'traditional' terminal or command prompt.

I'll admit, I'm a command line junkie after years of first DOS and then Unix. Despite being a complete Mac zealot as well, the first application I start after a browser and email when OS X starts up is either the Terminal or Apple's X Windows System implementation.

But I'm noticing something odd. On Linux and Solaris the 'Terminal' application is often hidden away under the 'System Tools' or 'Administration Tools' part of the menu within whatever interface you choose. I suspect this is because these operating systems have been pushing for the 'standard' (read not power or developer user) who don't want to use a shell to use their OS.

Ironically, Windows Server 2008 includes the command prompt right there on the start menu as one of the default items (it's not even hidden away). It also comes with both the original and the new Powershell.

Now I'm not suggesting it should be the default application in these environments, but I do find it odd that it is quite so hidden away. For me it's an annoyance, because it's often the first thing I look for when setting up a new system.