NB ================================== For ancient 16bit compatibility, windef.h (included through windows.h in freeglut_std.h) defines near and far. Its best to avoid using variables with these names in your own program. Installing the Libraries with MSVC ================================== To install "freeglut" on your system so that your other projects will see it, you will need to copy various files to various locations. - The header files "freeglut.h", "freeglut_ext.h", "freeglut_std.h", and "glut.h" (distributed in the directory "freeglut\freeglut\include\GL") need to be copied to a "GL" directory under the MSVC include directory. The MSVC include directory generally has a path similar to "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Include" The "GL" subdirectory under that will probably already have the header files "gl.h", "glaux.h", and "glu.h". - The library file "freeglut.lib" or "freeglut_static.lib" (from the corresponding debug or release directory) needs to be copied into the MSVC library directory. This usually has a path similar to: "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Lib" - x86 32 bits LIB's "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Lib" - x64 32 bits LIB's "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Lib\x64" - x64 64 bits LIB's Note that there is no "GL" subdirectory here. This directory should already have the files "opengl32.lib", "glu32.lib", and "glaux.lib". - If you are using the DLL version of "freeglut", the file "freeglut.dll" needs to be copied from the Debug or the Release directory into the DLL directory. This usually has a path similar to "%SystemRoot%\System32\" - x86 32 bits DLL's "%SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\" - x64 32 bits DLL's "%SystemRoot%\System32\" - x64 64 bits DLL's and will probably already have the files "opengl32.dll" and "glu32.dll". Building and Installing the Libraries with Open Watcom ====================================================== Start a command prompt and change directory to the freeglut installation directory. Type "wmake -f Makefile.wat all" to build the DLL and static libraries in both debug and release versions. To install "freeglut" on your system so that your other projects will see it, you will need to copy various files to various locations. - The header files "freeglut.h", "freeglut_ext.h", "freeglut_std.h", and "glut.h" (distributed in the directory "freeglut\freeglut\include\GL") need to be copied to a "GL" directory under the Open Watcom 32-bit Windows include directory. This usually has a path similar to "C:\WATCOM\h\nt\GL" - The library file "freeglut.lib" or "freeglut_static.lib" (from the corresponding debug or release directory) needs to be copied into the Open Watcom 32-bit Windows library directory. This usually has a path similar to "C:\WATCOM\lib386\nt" - If you are using the DLL version of "freeglut", the file "freeglut.dll" needs to be copied from the Debug or the Release directory into the DLL directory. This usually has a path similar to "C:\Windows\System32" and will probably already have the files "opengl32.dll" and "glu32.dll". Unlike the *nix release, the library names are NOT automatic replacements for the GLUT library names. You may rename them manually if you wish, but this is not necessary as the header file includes a pragma telling the compiler which library file to look for. Building and Installing the Libraries with Cygwin ================================================= To build "freeglut" under Cygwin, you have two choices: - You can build a normal Cygwin library, which depends on Cygwin's X11 libraries. To do this, you can just use the normal autotools incantation: ./configure && make install - Alternatively, you can build a DLL which does not depend on X11 and links against the opengl32 DLL. To do this, configure need a few more flags: ./configure CPPFLAGS=-mno-cygwin LDFLAGS=-mno-cygwin --without-x && make install If you don't have MSVC, Open Watcom or Cygwin ============================================= The "freeglut" developers' community discussed the possibility of distributing binaries and decided against it. If you need Windows library files, please contact John F. Fay at or put a request on the "freeglut" developers' mailing list .