MinGW for Windows

MinGW is a native Windows port to the GNU Compiler Collection, (GCC), which includes freely distributable import libraries and headers for building native Windows apps. It also includes extensions to MSVC runtime for C99 functionality. All MinGW's software can be executed on 64-bit Windows platforms.

MinGW offers a minimal development environment and a complete Open Source program set. This is suitable for developing native MS-Windows apps that do not require any third-party C-Runtime LLs*.

MinGW's key features include:

A port of GNU Compiler Collection, (GCC), which includes C, C++ and Fortran compilers.

MinGW compilers allow access to the functionality and some language-specific runtimes of the Microsoft C runtime. MinGW is a minimalist program that does not attempt to provide a POSIX environment for POSIX app deployment on MS-Windows. Cygwin is a better choice if you require POSIX application installation on this platform.

*It depends on a number DLLs provided to Microsoft as part of the operating system. The most prominent among these DLLs is MSVCRT.DLL. This is the Microsoft C runtime libraries. A freely distributable thread support DLL must be included with threaded applications. This is provided by MinGW.