When I program in Windows, I program directly. Learning > the basics is enough without deciphering the alien > intricacies of OWL I do not understand you at all. A good class library, such as MFC, OWL, wX, or PowerPlant is not an "alien intricacy", it is an efficient, high level way of handling the incredibly intricate Windows API. I assume by "directly" you mean that you program only in straight C, to the Windows API calls in the SDK. I've done this, and the same task usually takes four times as much code as a comparable OWL or MFC app. My engineering budget may be big, but it's not unlimited. Anything that provides a reasonable boost in the productivity of the programmers is encouraged, if not mandated. > or getting into a bullfight with OLE Again, what are you getting at? Using a class library does not mandate that you use OLE. If your program needs to be OLE enabled (i.e. if you're writting an application which must work within an office suite, or you just want that "designed for Windows" Microsoft seal of approval), then you must work with the OLE api. This is true weather you are writing "directly" in C to the Windows API, using a class library like MFC or OWL, or an application builder like Delphi. Weather it's a "bullfight" or not would be determined by your skill level and project managment skills.