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On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 14:03, "Martin v. L�wis" <martin@v.loewis.de> wrote:
Paul Rudin wrote:
> "Martin v. L�wis" <martin@v.loewis.de> writes:
>
>> The major difference in the "do it yourself" attitude is that Mac user
>> get a compiler for free, as part of the operating system release,
>> whereas for Windows, they have to pay for it (leaving alone VS Express
>> for the moment).
>
> JOOI why ignore the express versions of the MS compilers? All (I think)
> MS compilers are available for free in command line versions - it's the
> GUI tools you pay for.

Primarily out of a historical perspective: I think "we" started
providing Windows binaries primarily because some people bought the
appropriate license (of Visual Studio, and Wise Installer). IMO, that's
a stronger reason than mere convenience.

As for available tools: I'm not sure how you would build an AMD64
release just with those tools.

Regards,
Martin

Outside of hacking the registry and various config files, 64-bit builds can't be done with the express versions of Visual Studio, and I wouldn't be comfortable shipping a product built in that way.