Re:That's true but don't pretend it was intentiona (Score 1)

It's never been that hard for me, and personally I always use batch files to compile on windows. Even when I need to compile a C++ program with an MS compiler, it's still easy. First, go download the latest MS platform SDK and the latest visual c++ toolkit: Do a Google "I'm feeling lucky search" for the Microsoft Platform SDK Do a Google "I'm feeling lucky search" for the visual c++ toolkit Then you'll have something like this to set the paths for the MS C++ compiler and linker:

rem You need the Microsoft Platform SDK to compile this.
rem You also need Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003, or Visual Studio .NET.

rem Your PATH, INCLUDE, and LIB environment vars should include the folders like this (Yours may be different):

set PATH=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003\bin;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows XP SP2\Bin;%PATH%
set INCLUDE=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003\include;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows XP SP2\include;%INCLUDE%
set LIB=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual C++ Toolkit 2003\lib;C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows XP SP2\Lib;%LIB%

With those things, the libraries are all fine, and it compiles stuff just fine. (The path/lib/include lines use the default install path of the latest version of those two programs) The only problem I've had is trying to use precompiled libraries which were compiled with a DIFFERENT lib... Like the ones that you need to get to compile XChat. >_ I think a better question is, "Why is it so damn hard to compile most cross-platform open-source projects on Windows? How are they supposed to be Free Software for Windows, if it takes a herculean effort to get them to compile for Windows?" It doesn't HAVE to be that hard.