Questions tagged [windows]
Questions involving programming on Microsoft Windows technology, including its API.
320
questions
395
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answers
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Why do game developers prefer Windows?
Is it that DirectX is easier or better than OpenGL, even if OpenGL is cross-platform? Why do we not see real powerful games for Linux like there are for Windows?
129
votes
8
answers
194k
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Difference between '\n' and '\r\n'
Yes yes, I am aware that '\n' writes a newline in UNIX while for Windows there is the two character sequence: '\r\n'. All this is very nice in theory, but my question is why? Why the carriage return ...
- 1,459
61
votes
24
answers
470k
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Why do programmers use or recommend Mac OS X? [closed]
I've worked on both Mac and Windows for awhile. However, I'm still having a hard time understanding why programmers enthusiastically choose Mac OS X over Windows and Linux?
I know that there are ...
45
votes
4
answers
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What is LPCTSTR?
what is LPCTSTR and LPCTSTR-like (for instance HDC) and what it does stand for?
user61273
43
votes
8
answers
6k
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Legitimate use of the Windows "Documents" folder in programs
Anyone who likes their Documents folder to contain only things they place there knows that the standard Documents folder is completely unsuitable for this task. Every program seems to want to put its ...
- 4,469
35
votes
8
answers
12k
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Why don't developers make installation wizards on linux? [closed]
I'm sure it's not about laziness or anything like that but I fail to understand why developers of even mainly consumer facing apps don't make any sort of installation wizard where you go next-next-...
- 491
35
votes
6
answers
6k
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Why don't developers make installation automatic on windows? [closed]
This is the inverse to "Why don't developers make installation wizards on linux?", which is interesting, but made me think "Automatic installation is the natural way. Why do they use wizards?".
So ...
- 491
34
votes
5
answers
10k
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Why don't Windows/Linux use relational Databases (RDBMS)?
Why don't Windows/Linux use relational databases (RDBMS)?
I know they use file systems to store all data but don't you think it is more efficient to use databases like we use in web sites/web apps?
...
- 540
34
votes
4
answers
132k
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Does Microsoft have a free version of Visual Studio? [closed]
Not a trial, but a truly free version that they offer users to download....
I was wondering in case I somehow missed the option on their website. Any version of Visual Studio will do.
If not, are ...
- 6,185
32
votes
3
answers
8k
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Is address 0000000C a special address?
When programming sometimes things break. You made a mistake and your program tries to read from a wrong address.
One thing that stands out to me that often those exceptions are like :
Access ...
- 12.8k
32
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Is there a Windows philosophy of programming? [closed]
I've been programming both in Unix and Windows environments. Mostly I've worked in Unix, where I've learned Unix Philosophy, which can be summarized as
Write programs that do one thing and do it well....
- 3,839
31
votes
6
answers
6k
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Do we need to test 32-bit software in 64-bit Windows?
I'm working in a software development team as software developer. I've been working on the same project for three years now. The software is a 32-bit desktop based C# application in .NET 4. Our target ...
- 1,219
26
votes
5
answers
14k
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Moving from Winforms to WPF [closed]
I am a long time experienced Windows Forms developer, but now it's time to move to WPF because a new WPF project is comming soon to me and I have only a short lead time to prepare myself to learn WPF.
...
- 753
24
votes
5
answers
10k
views
Why can't Windows services have a GUI?
I was using this feature in earlier Windows release like XP and NT. I was able to run a GUI from a Windows service. But it is not possible in the later versions.
What is the reason behind the removal ...
- 477
19
votes
9
answers
4k
views
What were the reasons why Windows never had a decent shell? [closed]
I was reading a topic on SO: Why are scripting languages (e.g. ...) not suitable as shell languages?. Especially I liked the answer by Jörg W Mittag, from which I learned interesting things about ...
- 420
19
votes
6
answers
4k
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INI files or Registry or personal files?
I want to save the configuration of my project which includes
Screen size
Screen position
Folder paths
Users settings and so on.
The standard places where you can save these are configuration values ...
- 1,469
19
votes
7
answers
6k
views
Is it possible to effectively develop PHP applications on Windows that will be deployed on servers running Linux?
Is it fine to code PHP on Windows and host it later on a server running Linux? Can there be any problems in the migration of such a project?
I would think that there really can't be any problems, ...
- 805
18
votes
13
answers
49k
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What are the practical uses of Windows Services? [closed]
I am new to working with Windows Services. Although I have learnt to create Windows Services in VS2010 I would like to know some practical ways in which windows services could be used?
I tried ...
- 1,025
16
votes
10
answers
1k
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At what point should I have my Windows developers upgrade to the latest release of Windows?
At what point should I begin upgrading our developer's machines to a later Windows release?
From experience, Microsoft typically has an epic fail about every other O.S. (I am really not trying to ...
- 5,019
14
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Do Windows Installers for internal business applications make sense?
I'm trying to build a general understanding for what's common in this situation so that I can decide if it makes sense to pursue it further.
Are installers welcome in a typical corporate environment ...
- 159
14
votes
3
answers
326
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Supporting development for older OS
I am maintaining a large portion of legacy code, written in C. This code was initially written to be comiled against Windows 3 for Workgroups, and later a version for NT was created. This legacy ...
- 367
14
votes
1
answer
1k
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Is Windows a "second class citizen" in the Django community?
I'm currently doing R&D for a web application which we plan to host ourselves initially and then allow customers to self host.
My task has been evaluating web frameworks to see which would give ...
- 987
13
votes
12
answers
815
views
What default features is Windows missing that are required for programmers? [closed]
What features is Windows missing that can improve the productivity of a programmer. I know a lot of people would want some features from Linux and OSX ported or being created for Windows as well. What ...
- 139
13
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4
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2k
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Should I deploy 32-bit only or both 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows?
I have a cross-platform application written in a compiled language.
For Linux it is customary to have both amd64 and i386 builds available to user, so user can choose version, suitable for its ...
12
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Windows programming - should you leave UAC on?
What is the recommended User Account Control (UAC) setting when developing on Windows?
Even on Win7 I find it annoying enough to turn it off (because it makes me more productive with it off) but ...
- 7,067
12
votes
3
answers
28k
views
Windows Phone 8 development on Windows 7 - is it or will be possible? [closed]
I was trying to install Windows Phone 8 SDK on my Windows 7 machine and it hit me with the 'supported only on Windows 8' message. I actually wanted to develop Phone 7.5 apps on Visual Studio 2012, ...
- 283
11
votes
2
answers
2k
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Deploy C#/C++ binaries incrementally by patching the difference
My company has a huge C++/C# software system composed of 1800 binaries. The technology range goes from old school native C++/MFC, then C++/CLI, up to .NET Framework and .NET Core 6. Almost all ...
- 223
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How to divide work to a network of computers?
Imagine a scenario as follows: Lets say you have a central computer which generates a lot of data. This data must go through some processing, which unfortunately takes longer than to generate. In ...
- 219
11
votes
4
answers
3k
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Evolution of the Win32 API [closed]
Has the Windows 32 API changed much over time? Does the Charles Petzold book "Programming Windows, 5th Edition" from 1998 still contain relevant information, or is most of it obsolete/outdated?
What ...
- 6,844
10
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10
answers
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Do Microsoft Certifications matter? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are certifications worth it?
I'm curious what experience others have had, both from the perspective of an employer and an employee on Microsoft Certifications.
I'm kind of ...
John Hoge
10
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Where Should I Put Configuration Files?
I'm creating a project that I want to be able to distribute across platforms. I'm writing in Java and AWT which already gives me a pretty large range of devices, but I'm mostly interested in Windows ...
- 258
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
MonoTouch/MonoDroid + C# = trustable? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
MonoTouch vs Objective-C for iPhone/iPod/iPad development
As a C# developer, would you learn Java to develop for Android or use MonoDroid instead?
I'm very curious about the ...
- 333
9
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Is there much difference between X86 Assembly language on Windows and Linux?
I'm a complete beginner at Assembly, and my aim is to learn as much as I can to do with Assembly to one day I can reach expert level (I know I'm way off right now, but you never know). My only problem ...
- 635
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votes
2
answers
5k
views
Embedded Linux vs Windows Embedded Standard 7 [closed]
Ok looking for some really subjective answers. My company has traditionally been a Linux shop, we manufacture and sell purpose built boxes for video security. We recently decided to build an ...
Marc Dalone
9
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Can I use Linux/Mono instead of Windows/Visual Studio without any problem? [closed]
I have more than 6 years of experience with .Net (C#/ASP.NET) and Visual Studio. But recently I'm tempted to switch to Linux/Mono. It comes up with some questions:
Can I run my old Visual Studio ...
- 205
8
votes
8
answers
2k
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What are the consequences of still sticking with Windows XP despite there are Windows Vista, 7 and very soon 8? [closed]
From a .Net programmer perspective, what are the consequences of still sticking with Windows XP despite there are Windows Vista, 7 and very soon 8? How does having windows XP limit programmers ...
- 193
8
votes
2
answers
821
views
What is the "yield" functionality in Windows 3.11?
I have read that Windows 3.11 uses cooperative multitasking, which means that the OS does not do process scheduling whenever it wants, but rather the currently running process "yield" the execution to ...
- 201
8
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Why do Windows commands allow `-` and `/` switches? [closed]
> shutdown /?
> Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e | /o] [/hybrid] [/f]
The windows cmd.exe command shutdown only documents forward slash / switches, but it accepts ...
- 323
8
votes
3
answers
2k
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How to better integrate a unix development environment into Windows [closed]
I'm mostly a Windows user but I do most of my development (essentially web development) using unix tools and software. I've been going back and forth between using a dedicated lubuntu virtual machine ...
- 197
8
votes
1
answer
16k
views
Can I write a cross-platform application (Mac and Windows) using C#? [closed]
I see lots of old information on this question, and lots of articles flying around the Interwebs, but I can't tell quite where things are at.
Basically, I want to write C# code that I can then compile ...
- 558
8
votes
2
answers
3k
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Modern.IE VM license
Microsoft provides some VMs for testing purposes (advertised on Stack Overflow) and I'm trying to understand the license terms. The one I don't really understand is
1.b. You may use the software ...
- 221
8
votes
2
answers
701
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What's the best way to handle Windows API errors in response to system messages or when I have nowhere to return them to?
This is going to be a really stupid question and I hope it's fine for Stack Exchange at all, let alone just this part of it...
Right now, my custom Table control uses panic() functions that print an ...
- 223
8
votes
4
answers
1k
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Why fewer IRQLs in 64-bit, even though an APIC has more interrupt lines?
As x86 computers shifted from 32-bit to 64-bit, they also shifted from using 8259-style Programmable Interrupt Controllers with 8 interrupt lines. (Or two multiplexed PICs for a total of 15 interrupt ...
- 191
7
votes
6
answers
479
views
Noobie wants to use source control, how would you guide them?
Let's say you know of an anonymous noobie that wants to be lead upon the path of righteousness. This noobie wants to use some sort of source control tools simply for the experience of using source ...
- 207
7
votes
7
answers
3k
views
How can I make my PHP development environment more efficient?
I want to start a home-brew pet project in PHP.
I've spent some time in my life developing in PHP and I've always felt it was hard to organize the development environment efficiently.
In my ...
- 195
7
votes
4
answers
487
views
Why don't software vendors use existing scheduling facilities for automatic upgrades?
It is common for software vendors to offer automatic updates.
The research and installation of these updates can be done
at application startup
through a service or process in the background (which ...
- 231
7
votes
4
answers
749
views
Reason behind multi-line declaration style?
I'm a little curious about the reason behind the Windows header file declaration styles.
When I read them, I see multi-line declarations such as the following:
WINBASEAPI
HANDLE
WINAPI
GetStdHandle(
...
- 8,054
7
votes
1
answer
9k
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Is Visual C++ Redistributables backward compatible?
I am including two programs in my software. One of which requires VC10 and the other requires VC11. My question is that if program developed for VC10 will work on VC11 or I have to include both VC10 ...
user88873
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Unit Testing For Different Environments
How does one do unit testing for multiple environments that behave differently?
Here is my problem. I have a PHP class for which I'd like to create unit tests. The class provides shortcuts for ...
- 4,079
7
votes
4
answers
4k
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Reason to use mingw win32 headers and libs with LLVM/Clang
Is there any good reason (except "GCC is better") to use the MinGW win32api/headers/libs with LLVM/Clang. Suppose that in two to three years, Clang has matured enough (in C++0x and performance) that ...
- 580