-wimlib 1.3.0 has added experimental support for Windows builds. These builds
-include both the "wimlib" library (built as a DLL) and the "imagex" executable.
-The Windows builds use native Win32 calls when appropriate to handle alternate
-data streams, security descriptors, and reparse points.
+ INTRODUCTION
-Windows support currently has the following limitations:
+wimlib is free and open source software that is available on both UNIX-like
+systems and Windows. This file provides additional information specifically
+about the Windows version of wimlib and the command line tool "wimlib-imagex"
+that is distributed with it. It does not obsolete the generic README.txt, which
+you should read too.
-- It relies on the Cygwin UNIX-compatibility layer. You do not, however, need
- to have the Cygwin distribution installed to run it, as I have posted a ZIP
- file on SourceForge that contains the build of wimlib and "imagex" along with
- the DLLs needed for it to run. Please note that these DLLs are free and open
- source software; see http://www.cygwin.com/ for more details.
+ WINDOWS DISTRIBUTION
-- Mounting WIM files is not supported.
+The Windows distribution of wimlib is a ZIP file containing the following items:
-- wimlib's API is not compatible with Microsoft's WIMGAPI, although they offer
- some of the same functionality.
+ * wimlib-imagex.exe, a command-line tool to deal with WIM (.wim), split WIM
+ (.swm), and ESD (.esd) files that is inspired by Microsoft's ImageX and
+ DISM. This is a ready-to-run executable and not an installer.
-So, in terms of the "imagex" program:
+ * Very short batch scripts (e.g. wimapply.cmd) which are shortcuts to the
+ corresponding wimlib-imagex commands (e.g. `wimlib-imagex apply').
-"imagex capture", "imagex append", and "imagex apply" will work on Windows and
-have the added advantage of saving and restoring alternate data streams,
-security descriptors, and reparse points.
+ * The documentation, including this file, the generic README.txt, and
+ PDF documentation for wimlib-imagex in the 'doc' directory.
-"imagex delete", "imagex dir", "imagex export", "imagex info", "imagex join",
-"imagex optimize", and "imagex split" are all portable and should work the same
-way on Windows as on UNIX.
+ * The library itself (libwim-15.dll). The C header wimlib.h is not
+ included; download the source if you want it.
-"imagex mount", "imagex mountrw", and "imagex unmount" will NOT work on Windows.
+ * License files for all software included. These are all free software
+ licenses.
-So on Windows, why would you want to use wimlib's ImageX instead of Microsoft's?
-Well, here are a few reasons:
+Note that there are separate ZIP files for 32-bit (i686) and 64-bit (x86_64)
+binaries. They are both fully supported, but you should prefer the 64-bit
+binaries when possible as they can be noticeably faster.
-- wimlib can be freely distributed; there is no need to download a 1.8 gigabyte
- "Windows Automated Installation Kit".
-- wimlib offers fast multithreaded compression, so making WIM images can be much
- faster.
-- wimlib is free software, so you can modify and/or audit the source code.
+ WIMLIB-IMAGEX
+
+wimlib-imagex supports most features of Microsoft's ImageX as well as some
+features that are supported by DISM but not by ImageX. wimlib-imagex also
+supports some features that neither ImageX nor DISM support. Some of the
+advantages of wimlib-imagex compared to ImageX and DISM are:
+
+ * wimlib-imagex provides "extract" and "update" commands which allow
+ you to quickly work with WIM images without mounting them.
+
+ * wimlib-imagex provides an easy-to-use "optimize" command which removes
+ wasted space from a WIM file and optionally recompresses it with stronger
+ compression.
+
+ * wimlib includes advanced implementations of all compression algorithms used
+ in WIM files. They usually outperform and outcompress their Microsoft
+ equivalents.
+
+ * wimlib-imagex supports solid WIM files and LZMS compression, for example as
+ used in ESD (.esd) files. (These are partially supported by recent DISM
+ versions but not by ImageX.)
+
+ * In many cases, wimlib-imagex has simpler command-line syntax than either
+ ImageX or DISM.
+
+ * Whenever possible, wimlib-imagex includes improved documentation and
+ informational output compared to Microsoft's software.
+
+ * wimlib and wimlib-imagex are free software, so you can modify and/or audit
+ the source code.
+
+However, some limitations of wimlib-imagex compared to ImageX and DISM are:
+
+ * On Windows, wimlib-imagex does not support mounting WIM images.
+
+ * wimlib-imagex has no awareness of Windows "packages".
+
+ ADDITIONAL NOTES
+
+It's recommended to use wimlib-imagex in scripts to avoid having to
+interactively enter commands. However, note that wimlib-imagex is largely just
+a command-line front-end for wimlib, and it's possible to use wimlib's API in
+other front-ends or applications. Currently there is no official graphical user
+interface available for wimlib or wimlib-imagex. However, an unofficial, beta,
+Windows-only graphical user interface that provides a thin wrapper around
+wimlib-imagex can be downloaded at
+http://reboot.pro/files/file/485-wimlib-imagex-command-line-compiler/.
+
+If you want to build your own Windows binaries from source, MinGW-w64 is
+required. Configure with --host=i686-w64-mingw32 or --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32.
+You will need to satisfy the third-party dependencies (libxml2, winpthreads, and
+win-iconv), which in the official releases are statically linked into the DLL.
git://wimlib.net / wimlib / blobdiff