how can I configure emacs on Windows 7 'Meta shell' command to open a cygwin shell instead of a Microsoft Windows shell?
Thank you.
I use this configuration all the time, and IMHO the best way to do it is to use a Cygwin emacs. The everything is consistent - Emacs file handling and your shell.
You can explicitly give Emacs the shell file name - that variable is cleverly named: explicit-shell-file-name
. Set it to, say, c:/cygwin/bin/bash.exe
, etc.
More comprehensive setup and other useful tips for this configuration: http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/setup-cygwin.el