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    And the downside is 'no chance of moving the code to anything other than Windows'. It is not clear whether that matters to the OP. Commented Jun 2, 2011 at 18:28
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    @Jonathan: Since he didn't ask about the downsides on the Win32 API, I'm hoping the portability problems are obvious to @Stephen and he's already determined its not a overriding factor. Commented Jun 2, 2011 at 18:30
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    And I don't see how windows.h can possibly be described as "Low dependency footprint". Commented Jun 2, 2011 at 18:32
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    @sean: Only in degree. If you use the C or C++ standard libraries, you have to deploy them somehow. @Neil: Code using the C or C++ standard library has an indirect dependency on everything windows.h related, in addition to a dependency on the C and C++ libraries themselves. Also, there's no need to redistribute anything found in windows.h, the corresponding DLLs are already on the system. Whereas the C and/or C++ libraries have to be included with the application. This can increase an installer by orders of magnitude. Commented Jun 2, 2011 at 18:38
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    @Neil: No, your users are responsible for finding and installing the dependencies. That's (1) more of a burden and (2) completely unexpected by the majority of Windows users. Commented Jun 2, 2011 at 18:42