See also <a href="faq.htm">top-level FAQ page</a>.
<hr>
-<h3>Is Windows 3.1 supported?</h3>
+<h3>Which Windows platforms are supported?</h3>
-Yes! Unlike Microsoft, we have not forgotten users of 16-bit Windows. Most features
+wxWindows can be used to develop and deliver applications on Windows 3.1, Win32s,
+Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. A Windows CE version is being looked into (see below).<P>
+
+wxWindows 2 is designed to make use of WIN32 features and controls. However, unlike Microsoft,
+we have not forgotten users of 16-bit Windows. Most features
work under Windows 3.1, including wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl using the generic implementation.
-However, don't expect Windows 95-specific classes to work, such as wxTaskBar. The wxRegConfig
+However, don't expect very Windows-specific classes to work, such as wxTaskBarIcon. The wxRegConfig
class doesn't work either because the Windows 3.1 registry is very simplistic. Check out the 16-bit
makefiles to see what other files have been left out.
<P>
16-bit compilation is supported under Visual C++ 1.5, and Borland BC++ 4 to 5.
<P>
+wxWindows 2 for Windows will also compile on Unix with gcc using TWIN32 from <a href="http://www.willows.com" target=_top>Willows</a>,
+although TWIN32 is still in a preliminary state. The resulting executables are
+Unix binaries that work with the TWIN32 Windows API emulator.<P>
+
+You can also compile wxWindows 2 for Windows on Unix with Cygwin or Mingw32, resulting
+in executables that will run on Windows. So in theory you could write your applications
+using wxGTK or wxMotif, then check/debug your wxWindows for Windows
+programs with TWIN32, and finally produce an ix86 Windows executable using Cygwin/Mingw32,
+without ever needing a copy of Microsoft Windows. See the Technical Note on the Web site detailing cross-compilation.<P>
+
+<h3>What about Windows CE?</h3>
+
+This is under consideration, though we need to get wxWindows Unicode-aware first.
+There are other interesting issues, such as how to combine the menubar and toolbar APIs
+as Windows CE requires. But there's no doubt that it will be possible, albeit
+by mostly cutting down wxWindows 2 API functionality, and adding a few classes here
+and there. Since wxWindows for 2 produces small binaries (less than 300K for
+the statically-linked 'minimal' sample), shoehorning wxWindows 2 into a Windows CE device's limited
+storage should not be a problem.<P>
+
<h3>What compilers are supported?</h3>
Please see the wxWindows 2 for Windows install.txt file for up-to-date information, but
what we need to do, and have some header files ready to use containing appropriate
type definitions. Just about every file in wxWindows will need changes, due to the
pervasive nature of characters and character arrays. Unicode support is needed
-for the port to Windows CE (see
below).<P>
+for the port to Windows CE (see
above).<P>
-<h3>What about Windows CE?</h3>
+<h3>Can you compile wxWindows 2 as a DLL?</h3>
-This is under consideration, though we need to get wxWindows Unicode-aware first.
-There are other interesting issues, such as how to combine the menubar and toolbar APIs
-as Windows CE requires.<P>
+Yes (using the Visual C++ or Borland C++ makefile), but be aware that distributing DLLs is a thorny issue
+and you may be better off compiling statically-linked applications, unless you're
+delivering a suite of separate programs, or you're compiling a lot of wxWindows applications
+and have limited hard disk space.<P>
+
+With a DLL approach, and with different versions and configurations of wxWindows
+needing to be catered for, the end user may end up with a host of large DLLs in his or her Windows system directory,
+negating the point of using DLLs. Of course, this is not a problem just associated with
+wxWindows!
+<P>
+
+<H3>How can I reduce executable size?</H3>
+
+You can compile wxWindows as a DLL (see above, VC++/BC++ only at present). You should also
+compile your programs for release using non-debugging and space-optimisation options.<P>
+
+Statically-linked wxWindows 2 programs are smaller than wxWindows 1.xx programs, because of the way
+wxWindows 2 has been designed to reduce dependencies between classes, and other
+techniques. The linker will not include code from the library that is not (directly or
+indirectly) referenced
+by your application. So for example, the 'minimal' sample is less than 300KB using VC++ 6.<P>
+
+If you want to distribute really small executables, you can
+use <a href="http://www.icl.ndirect.co.uk/petite/" target=_top>Petite</a>
+by Ian Luck. This nifty utility compresses Windows executables by around 50%, so your 500KB executable
+will shrink to a mere 250KB. With this sort of size, there is reduced incentive to
+use DLLs.<P>
+
+
+<H3>Will wxWindows be compatible with MFC?</H3>
+
+There is a sample which demonstrates MFC and wxWindows code co-existing in the same
+application. However, don't expect to be able to enable wxWindows windows with OLE-2
+functionality using MFC.<P>
</font>
projects / wxWidgets.git / blobdiff