Whilst I've been investigating what I can do with Emacs, I've mostly been using a Windows XP machine - not for any reason other than it was there after I'd had to drag it out of a back room into my study to use it for a set of electronic manuals I needed to study. Why does everyone need to write such things that are dependent on Windows? Cross platform manuals seem such a logical thing to do.
However back to the story. I'd started on Emacs with Org-mode for my notes and then I found myself with time on my hands and decided to expand on the Emacs and learn what else I could use it for. I have rapidly found that the Unix heritage shows through, but I've been resisting and trying to find solutions using purely Windows binaries. I have finally had to admit that such a course is really too complex and by far the simplest course of action is to use cygwin.
Cygwin
Simply put, Cygwin is a large subset of the Unix system compiled for Windows. That is oversimplifying it, but essentially correct. You can effectively use Unix tools in the Windows environment, and since there are no native binaries for a number of utilities required for Emacs extensions (or binaries that need careful searching for) it makes sense just to use Cygwin and have one entry into the PATH variable.
Of course the other advantage of Cygwin is that it provides a gentler introduction to the Unix way for people and who knows, they may even see the sense of a change and abandon the dangers of a computing monoculture.
later ....
Disclaimer: I'm happy to tell you what I've found if you take responsibility for your actions.
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