Which version of gcc to install with MinGW?

Question

If compiling and linking with MinGW gcc v3 is painfully slow, and gcc v4 is not the default install option: What, for a beginner are the advantages/disadvantages of installing one version or another?

Say for example with gcc v4, I want to use PDCurses or other GNU libraries will I first have to recompile these from source?

I'm only asking here about C and not C++.

Answer 1

I've been using MinGW with GCC4 for some time and didn't encounter any problems, so I'd say go for it. Also, there's no need for recompilation as the C ABI on Windows has been stable for a long time.

Answer 2

The TDM GCC/MinGW32 builds installer includes gcc 4.4.x and all the core binary packages required for basic Windows development, including gdb. It's widely used without any unusual problems.

Answer 3

One advantage of gcc4 is that you can compile recent QT4.6, as it is compiled with gcc4. Of course some new additions, like OpenMP need new gcc versions. However, there are complains about MingW port of gcc4 to be unstable for certain applications.