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Under what license is the Win32 API (sepecifically GDI+) is distributed?

SuperKogito 1 Reputation point
2020-10-28T02:00:22.687+00:00

Recently, I used parts of the Win32 API (GDI+) in my C++ project.
Although I tried to find the license of the Win32 API or GDI+, unfortunately I couldn't find any.

My questions are the following:

  • Under what license is GDI+ distributed?
  • Is there any type of licensing guidelines that I should mind if the app is for commercial use (owner of the app is an Enterprise but the app will be used internally and distributed for free) ?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Windows API - Win32
Windows API - Win32
A core set of Windows application programming interfaces (APIs) for desktop and server applications. Previously known as Win32 API.
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  1. Castorix31 85,701 Reputation points
    2020-10-28T06:41:23.967+00:00

    There is no license
    GdiPlus.dll is a part of the OS, like DLLs of the Windows API (Gdi32.dll, User32.dll, Kernel32.dll, etc...)

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  2. Fei Xue - MSFT 1,111 Reputation points
    2020-10-28T06:54:32.933+00:00

    If you are developing with Windows 10 SDK, there are two license files which shift with it. You can check them in the location of the SDK installed folder. For example, on my test machine, they located under below folder:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Licenses\<SDK Version>

    Please check the details about sdk_license.rtf and sdk_third_party_notices.rtf when you design, develop and deploy your programs. Here is the link to download the latest Window SDK:

    https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/windows-10-sdk/

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