GnuWin for Windows

Run GNU and open-sourced tools in your Windows PC

GnuWin is a utility software that provides Win32-versions of GNU tools and tools with similar open-source licenses. It uses native ports, relying only on libraries provided with any modern 32-bits MS-Windows operating systems, such as 2000, XP, Vista, and 7.   It comes with various packages, including GNU utilities, archive management, and compression tools, graphics tools, and tools for processing text. 

Requirements, installation, and usage

Before installing this, users must note that the packages that the app offers have dependencies. This means that the executable files cannot simply be run in Windows unless files they depend on are available. All packages that the app provides require MS Windows with msvrct.dll. Some packages also need msvcp60.dll while others may require other packages to work. 

GnuWin offers two ways to install the packages. From the package list, you can download a package using a setup program. You can then just follow the instructions provided. You may install more than one package in the same directory. You can also install from individual zip files, which are smaller in size than the install programs. However, you will have to take care of any dependencies that the packages require. You have to download the zip files you need, copy them to a directory, and unzip the archives. 

As noted, the ports in this handy tool are native ports. Unlike CygWin or Msys, it does not rely on some kind of Unix emulation. With this, there is no need to install additional emulation libraries. More, the app always provides the source, which usually is required by the license of the original package. It also provides the documentation in a compiled form and provides import libraries for MSVC and BCC whenever possible. 

A helpful tool with a few drawbacks

All in all, GnuWin is a helpful tool to have when you wish to run GNU tools in your modern Windows computer. The app offers various packages and great functionality. However, there are a few issues that you need to consider. For one, it will not run on your Windows 10 PC, unless you manually configure a path properly. More, its installation and configuration are a bit sloppy.