I'm in the process of writing a game in C, and I am wondering what compiler I am going to use a little ways in the future when I am building a release build for sale. My Linux version is compiled with GCC, but I have a choice to make with Windows. My current test-bed compiler is MinGW. I do not use Visual Studio, and my game does not leverage Direct3D at all. It uses OpenGL and OpenAL and DirectInput (DirectInput only on the Windows version, obviously). Here are my questions:
Almost all of my programming has been on Linux and BSD, so I'm new to the Windows crowd.
1.) Is it better performance-wise to use MSVC on Windows as opposed to MinGW?
2.) Is MSVC managed or native?
3.) I know that in C# you have that fancy build menu where you can add some properties (author, date, title, icon) etc. to your program. Does MSVC have that in a nice fancy build menu?
4.) Is the Express Edition compiler a step down from the others?
5.) As an IDE, not a compiler, do you recommend (for Windows) Visual Studio or Code::Blocks? I currently use Code::Blocks for both Windows and Linux development, as the project files can be used on Linux.