Where to start?

[wachtn]

Where can I learn to write programs for Windows?

I would really like to learn how to create programs with a GUI and write programs to automate things in Windows.

Thanks for all your help.

[Fsmv]

Get code blocks then start learning C++ start by learning console programming then for a GUI learn win32 there are lots of tutorials on this site to help you learn.

[Mythios]

That post looks helpful... Have you tried looking at any books specifically for making programs in windows? http://www.relisoft.com/win32/index.htm

[S6k9GNh0]

For professionalism and everyone's convenience, please take a look at cross-platform programming. Almost any app can go cross-platform without to much extra work.

[mackabee]

For professionalism and everyone's convenience, please take a look at cross-platform programming. Almost any app can go cross-platform without to much extra work.

For the price of lower performance.

/me knows this statement will get himself a reply. =D

[JCED]

For the price of lower performance.

/me knows this statement will get himself a reply. =D

Whether to go cross-platform IMO depends on what kind of application you're making, what kind of libraries it would require to go cross-platform, and whether it even makes sense to go cross-platform, as well as several other factors.

Honestly, any generalizing statements ("All x are y!") are incorrect. (By the way, that was a generalizing statement about generalizing statements) So you can't really say "cross-platform programming is better" or "platform-specific programming is better", but only "cross-platform programming is better in some situations".