diff --git a/new/alloc_windows.c b/new/alloc_windows.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..049e909
--- /dev/null
+++ b/new/alloc_windows.c
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// 4 december 2014
+#include "ui_windows.h"
+
+// wrappers for allocator of choice
+// panics on memory exhausted, undefined on heap corruption or other unreliably-detected malady (see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/28761680/is-there-a-windows-api-memory-allocator-deallocator-i-can-use-that-will-just-giv)
+// new memory is set to zero
+// passing NULL to tableRealloc() acts like tableAlloc()
+// passing NULL to tableFree() is a no-op
+
+void *uiAlloc(size_t size)
+{
+	void *out;
+
+	out = malloc(size);
+	if (out == NULL)
+		abort();	// TODO figure this part out
+	ZeroMemory(out, size);
+	return out;
+}
+
+void *uiRealloc(void *p, size_t size)
+{
+	void *out;
+
+	if (p == NULL)
+		return uiAlloc(size);
+	out = realloc(p, size);
+	if (out == NULL)
+		abort();
+	// TODO zero the extra memory
+	return out;
+}
+
+void uiFree(void *p)
+{
+	if (p == NULL)
+		return;
+	free(p);
+}
diff --git a/new/init_unix.c b/new/init_unix.c
index 4d951af..bda6481 100644
--- a/new/init_unix.c
+++ b/new/init_unix.c
@@ -7,22 +7,22 @@ struct uiInitError {
 
 uiInitError *uiInit(uiInitOptions *o)
 {
-	uiInitError *e;
+	uiInitError *err;
 
-	e = g_new0(uiInitError, 1);
-	if (gtk_init_with_args(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &(e->err)) == FALSE)
-		return e;
-	g_free(e);
+	err = g_new0(uiInitError, 1);
+	if (gtk_init_with_args(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &(err->err)) == FALSE)
+		return err;
+	g_free(err);
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-const char *uiInitErrorMessage(uiInitError *e)
+const char *uiInitErrorMessage(uiInitError *err)
 {
-	return e->err->message;
+	return err->err->message;
 }
 
-void uiInitErrorFree(uiInitError *e)
+void uiInitErrorFree(uiInitError *err)
 {
-	g_error_free(e->err);
-	g_free(e);
+	g_error_free(err->err);
+	g_free(err);
 }
diff --git a/new/init_windows.c b/new/init_windows.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07031aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/new/init_windows.c
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+// 6 april 2015
+#include "ui_windows.h"
+
+HINSTANCE hInstance;
+int nCmdShow;
+
+HFONT hMessageFont;
+
+struct uiInitError {
+	char *msg;
+	char failbuf[256];
+};
+
+static void loadLastError(uiInitError *err, char *message)
+{
+	DWORD le;
+
+	le = GetLastError();
+	// TODO FormatMessageW() it
+	_snprintf_s(err->failbuf, 256, _TRUNCATE, "error %s (last error %I32u)", message, le);
+	err->msg = err->failbuf;
+}
+
+uiInitError *uiInit(uiInitOptions *o)
+{
+	uiInitError *err;
+	STARTUPINFOW si;
+	HICON hDefaultIcon;
+	HCURSOR hDefaultCursor;
+	NONCLIENTMETRICSW ncm;
+
+	err = (uiInitError *) uiAlloc(sizeof (uiInitError));
+
+	hInstance = GetModuleHandle(NULL);
+	if (hInstance == NULL) {
+		loadLastError(err, "getting program HINSTANCE");
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	nCmdShow = SW_SHOWDEFAULT;
+	GetStartupInfoW(&si);
+	if ((si.dwFlags & STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW) != 0)
+		nCmdShow = si.wShowWindow;
+
+	hDefaultIcon = LoadIconW(NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);
+	if (hDefaultIcon == NULL) {
+		loadLastError(err, "loading default icon for window classes");
+		return err;
+	}
+	hDefaultCursor = LoadCursorW(NULL, IDC_ARROW);
+	if (hDefaultCursor == NULL) {
+		loadLastError(err, "loading default cursor for window classes");
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	if (registerWindowClass(hDefaultIcon, hDefaultCursor) == 0) {
+		loadLastError(err, "registering uiWindow window class");
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	ZeroMemory(&ncm, sizeof (NONCLIENTMETRICSW));
+	ncm.cbSize = sizeof (NONCLIENTMETRICSW);
+	if (SystemParametersInfoW(SPI_GETNONCLIENTMETRICS, sizeof (NONCLIENTMETRICSW), &ncm, sizeof (NONCLIENTMETRICSW)) == 0) {
+		loadLastError(err, "getting default fonts");
+		return err;
+	}
+	hMessageFont = CreateFontIndirectW(&(ncm.lfMessageFont));
+	if (hMessageFont == NULL) {
+		loadLastError(err, "loading default messagebox font; this is the default UI font");
+		return err;
+	}
+
+	uiFree(err);
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+const char *uiInitErrorMessage(uiInitError *err)
+{
+	return err->msg;
+}
+
+void uiInitErrorFree(uiInitError *err)
+{
+	if (err->msg != err->failbuf)
+		uiFree(err->msg);
+	uiFree(err);
+}
diff --git a/new/main_unix.c b/new/main_unix.c
index 988519a..b95e99e 100644
--- a/new/main_unix.c
+++ b/new/main_unix.c
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 // 6 april 2015
 #include "ui_unix.h"
 
+// #qo pkg-config: gtk+-3.0
+
 void uiMain(void)
 {
 	gtk_main();
diff --git a/new/main_windows.c b/new/main_windows.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43e6b5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/new/main_windows.c
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// 6 april 2015
+#include "ui_windows.h"
+
+// #qo LDFLAGS: -luser32 -lkernel32 -lgdi32 -luxtheme -lmsimg32 -lcomdlg32 -lole32 -loleaut32 -loleacc -luuid
+
+static void uimsgloop_else(MSG *msg)
+{
+	TranslateMessage(msg);
+	DispatchMessage(msg);
+}
+
+void uiMain(void)
+{
+	MSG msg;
+	int res;
+	HWND active, focus;
+
+	for (;;) {
+		SetLastError(0);
+		res = GetMessageW(&msg, NULL, 0, 0);
+		if (res < 0)
+			logLastError("error calling GetMessage() in uiMain()");
+		if (res == 0)		// WM_QUIT
+			break;
+		active = GetActiveWindow();
+		if (active == NULL) {
+			uimsgloop_else(&msg);
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		// bit of logic involved here:
+		// we don't want dialog messages passed into Areas, so we don't call IsDialogMessageW() there
+		// as for Tabs, we can't have both WS_TABSTOP and WS_EX_CONTROLPARENT set at the same time, so we hotswap the two styles to get the behavior we want
+		focus = GetFocus();
+		if (focus != NULL) {
+/*TODO			switch (windowClassOf(focus, areaWindowClass, WC_TABCONTROLW, NULL)) {
+			case 0:		// areaWindowClass
+				uimsgloop_area(active, focus, &msg);
+				continue;
+			case 1:		// WC_TABCONTROLW
+				uimsgloop_tab(active, focus, &msg);
+				continue;
+			}
+			// else fall through
+*/		}
+
+		if (IsDialogMessage(active, &msg) != 0)
+			continue;
+		uimsgloop_else(&msg);
+	}
+}
+
+void uiQuit(void)
+{
+	PostQuitMessage(0);
+}
diff --git a/new/test.c b/new/test.c
index cd35a5b..6bd5049 100644
--- a/new/test.c
+++ b/new/test.c
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 #include "ui.h"
 #include <stdio.h>
 
-// #qo pkg-config: gtk+-3.0
-
 int onClosing(uiWindow *w, void *data)
 {
 	printf("in closing!\n");
diff --git a/new/ui_windows.h b/new/ui_windows.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3545244
--- /dev/null
+++ b/new/ui_windows.h
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+// 6 january 2015
+
+#ifndef __UI_UI_WINDOWS_H__
+#define __UI_UI_WINDOWS_H__
+
+#define UNICODE
+#define _UNICODE
+#define STRICT
+#define STRICT_TYPED_ITEMIDS
+#define CINTERFACE
+#define COBJMACROS
+// see https://github.com/golang/go/issues/9916#issuecomment-74812211
+#define INITGUID
+// get Windows version right; right now Windows XP
+#define WINVER 0x0501
+#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501
+#define _WIN32_WINDOWS 0x0501		/* according to Microsoft's winperf.h */
+#define _WIN32_IE 0x0600			/* according to Microsoft's sdkddkver.h */
+#define NTDDI_VERSION 0x05010000	/* according to Microsoft's sdkddkver.h */
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <commctrl.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <uxtheme.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <wchar.h>
+#include <windowsx.h>
+#include <vsstyle.h>
+#include <vssym32.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <oleacc.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include "ui.h"
+
+// alloc_windows.c
+extern void *uiAlloc(size_t);
+extern void *uiRealloc(void *, size_t);
+extern void uiFree(void *);
+
+// debug_windows.c
+extern HRESULT logLastError(const char *);
+extern HRESULT logHRESULT(const char *, HRESULT);
+extern HRESULT logMemoryExhausted(const char *);
+
+// init_windows.c
+extern HINSTANCE hInstance;
+extern int nCmdShow;
+extern HFONT hMessageFont;
+
+// util_windows.c
+extern WCHAR *toUTF16(const char *);
+
+// window_windows.c
+extern ATOM registerWindowClass(HICON, HCURSOR);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/new/util_windows.c b/new/util_windows.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3f8971
--- /dev/null
+++ b/new/util_windows.c
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+// 6 april 2015
+#include "ui_windows.h"
+
+#define MBTWC(str, wstr, bufsiz) MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str, -1, wstr, bufsiz)
+
+WCHAR *toUTF16(const char *str)
+{
+	WCHAR *wstr;
+	int n;
+
+	n = MBTWC(str, NULL, 0);
+	if (n == 0)
+		logLastError("error figuring out number of characters to convert to in toUTF16()");
+	wstr = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc(n * sizeof (WCHAR));
+	if (MBTWC(str, wstr, n) != n)
+		logLastError("error converting from UTF-8 to UTF-16 in toUTF16()");
+	return wstr;
+}
diff --git a/new/window_windows.c b/new/window_windows.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0452161
--- /dev/null
+++ b/new/window_windows.c
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+// 6 april 2015
+#include "ui_windows.h"
+
+struct uiWindow {
+	HWND hwnd;
+	BOOL shownOnce;
+	int (*onClosing)(uiWindow *, void *);
+	void *onClosingData;
+};
+
+#define uiWindowClass L"uiWindowClass"
+
+static LRESULT CALLBACK uiWindowWndProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
+{
+	uiWindow *w;
+	CREATESTRUCTW *cs = (CREATESTRUCTW *) lParam;
+
+	w = (uiWindow *) GetWindowLongPtrW(hwnd, GWLP_USERDATA);
+	if (w == NULL) {
+		if (uMsg == WM_CREATE)
+			SetWindowLongPtrW(hwnd, GWLP_USERDATA, (LONG_PTR) (cs->lpCreateParams));
+		// fall through to DefWindowProc() anyway
+		return DefWindowProcW(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
+	}
+	switch (uMsg) {
+	case WM_CLOSE:
+		if (!(*(w->onClosing))(w, w->onClosingData))
+			return 0;
+		break;		// fall through to DefWindowProcW()
+	}
+	return DefWindowProcW(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam);
+}
+
+ATOM registerWindowClass(HICON hDefaultIcon, HCURSOR hDefaultCursor)
+{
+	WNDCLASSW wc;
+
+	ZeroMemory(&wc, sizeof (WNDCLASSW));
+	wc.lpszClassName = uiWindowClass;
+	wc.lpfnWndProc = uiWindowWndProc;
+	wc.hInstance = hInstance;
+	wc.hIcon = hDefaultIcon;
+	wc.hCursor = hDefaultCursor;
+	wc.hbrBackground = (HBRUSH) (COLOR_BTNFACE + 1);
+	return RegisterClassW(&wc);
+}
+
+#define exstyle 0
+#define style WS_OVERLAPPEDWINDOW
+
+static int defaultOnClosing(uiWindow *w, void *data)
+{
+	return 1;
+}
+
+uiWindow *uiNewWindow(char *title, int width, int height)
+{
+	uiWindow *w;
+	RECT adjust;
+	WCHAR *wtitle;
+
+	w = (uiWindow *) uiAlloc(sizeof (uiWindow));
+	w->onClosing = defaultOnClosing;
+
+	adjust.left = 0;
+	adjust.top = 0;
+	adjust.right = width;
+	adjust.bottom = height;
+	if (AdjustWindowRectEx(&adjust, style, FALSE, exstyle) == 0)
+		logLastError("error getting real window coordinates in uiWindow()");
+
+	wtitle = toUTF16(title);
+	w->hwnd = CreateWindowExW(exstyle,
+		uiWindowClass, wtitle,
+		style,
+		CW_USEDEFAULT, CW_USEDEFAULT,
+		adjust.right - adjust.left, adjust.bottom - adjust.top,
+		NULL, NULL, hInstance, w);
+	if (w->hwnd == NULL)
+		logLastError("error creating window in uiWindow()");
+
+	uiFree(wtitle);
+	return w;
+}
+
+void uiWindowDestroy(uiWindow *w)
+{
+	DestroyWindow(w->hwnd);
+	uiFree(w);
+}
+
+uintptr_t uiWindowHandle(uiWindow *w)
+{
+	return (uintptr_t) (w->hwnd);
+}
+
+// TODO titles
+
+void uiWindowShow(uiWindow *w)
+{
+	if (w->shownOnce) {
+		ShowWindow(w->hwnd, SW_SHOW);
+		return;
+	}
+	w->shownOnce = TRUE;
+	ShowWindow(w->hwnd, nCmdShow);
+	if (UpdateWindow(w->hwnd) == 0)
+		logLastError("error calling UpdateWindow() after showing uiWindow for the first time");
+}
+
+void uiWindowHide(uiWindow *w)
+{
+	ShowWindow(w->hwnd, SW_HIDE);
+}
+
+void uiWindowOnClosing(uiWindow *w, int (*f)(uiWindow *, void *), void *data)
+{
+	w->onClosing = f;
+	w->onClosingData = data;
+}