If i develop c++ win32 GUI in xp ,will i have problem to run in it deferent win os's

Question

Hello all i need to develop win32 GUI in c++ (plain win32 windows.h thing ) , I'm developing it in xp os how much problem will i have to port it to vista and windows 7 ?

Answer 1

No problems at all. the Win32 GUI api hasn't been deprecated

Other issues, like security, personal application files location, etc might give you a headache though.

Answer 2

There's a 'define' in Microsoft Visual Studio that allows you to indicate the minimum Windows platform that you want to support. It's WINVER.

If you compile with WINVER=0x0501, then you are targetting Windows XP and above. This means that you cannot call e.g. Windows 7 specific functions since they will only be defined if WINVER is set to 0x0700 or higher.

For the rest, check the Windows development documents that you will find on MSDN. I noticed that in practice you won't have any problems unless you are doing special things with Windows Services or device-related things.

Answer 3

Check the article called "Using the SDK Headers" or "Using the Windows Headers" in your Platform SDK/Windows SDK documentation. There are many breaking change in Windows Vista and 7, so it is easier to upgrade to Windows Vistas if you make sure your programs runs under a normal user account in Windows XP.