diff --git a/windows/GNUfiles.mk b/windows/GNUfiles.mk
index 8a5a2cf3..82a7ec8c 100644
--- a/windows/GNUfiles.mk
+++ b/windows/GNUfiles.mk
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ CFILES += \
 	windows/window.c
 
 CXXFILES += \
-	windows/drawtext.cpp
+	windows/drawtext.cpp \
+	windows/dwrite.cpp
 
 HFILES += \
 	windows/area.h \
diff --git a/windows/drawtext.cpp b/windows/drawtext.cpp
index 9c283ea2..488be226 100644
--- a/windows/drawtext.cpp
+++ b/windows/drawtext.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 // 22 december 2015
-// Before we begin, you may be wondering why this file is C++.
-// Simple: <dwrite.h> is C++ only! Thanks Microsoft!
-// And unlike UI Automation which accidentally just forgets the 'struct' and 'enum' tags in places, <dwrite.h> is a full C++ header file, with class definitions and the use of __uuidof. Oh well :/
 #include "uipriv_windows.h"
 
 // notes:
@@ -11,100 +8,44 @@
 // - justficiation (how could I possibly be making this up?!)
 // - vertical text (SERIOUSLY?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, MICROSOFT?!?!?!? DID YOU NOT THINK ABOUT THIS THE FIRST TIME, TRYING TO IMPROVE THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF WINDOWS 7?!?!?! bonus: some parts of MSDN even say 8.1 and up only!)
 
-static IDWriteFactory *dwfactory = NULL;
-
-HRESULT initDrawText(void)
-{
-	// TOOD use DWRITE_FACTORY_TYPE_ISOLATED instead?
-	return DWriteCreateFactory(DWRITE_FACTORY_TYPE_SHARED,
-		__uuidof (IDWriteFactory),
-		(IUnknown **) (&dwfactory));
-}
-
-void uninitDrawText(void)
-{
-	dwfactory->Release();
-}
-
 struct uiDrawFontFamilies {
-	IDWriteFontCollection *fonts;
-	WCHAR userLocale[LOCALE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
-	int userLocaleSuccess;
+	fontCollection *fc;
 };
 
 uiDrawFontFamilies *uiDrawListFontFamilies(void)
 {
-	uiDrawFontFamilies *ff;
-	HRESULT hr;
+	struct uiDrawFontFamilies *ff;
 
-	ff = uiNew(uiDrawFontFamilies);
-	// always get the latest available font information
-	hr = dwfactory->GetSystemFontCollection(&(ff->fonts), TRUE);
-	if (hr != S_OK)
-		logHRESULT("error getting system font collection in uiDrawListFontFamilies()", hr);
-	ff->userLocaleSuccess = GetUserDefaultLocaleName(ff->userLocale, LOCALE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH);
+	ff = uiNew(struct uiDrawFontFamilies);
+	ff->fc = loadFontCollection();
 	return ff;
 }
 
 uintmax_t uiDrawFontFamiliesNumFamilies(uiDrawFontFamilies *ff)
 {
-	return ff->fonts->GetFontFamilyCount();
+	return ff->fc->fonts->GetFontFamilyCount();
 }
 
 char *uiDrawFontFamiliesFamily(uiDrawFontFamilies *ff, uintmax_t n)
 {
 	IDWriteFontFamily *family;
-	IDWriteLocalizedStrings *names;
-	UINT32 index;
-	BOOL exists;
-	UINT32 length;
 	WCHAR *wname;
 	char *name;
 	HRESULT hr;
 
-	hr = ff->fonts->GetFontFamily(n, &family);
+	hr = ff->fc->fonts->GetFontFamily(n, &family);
 	if (hr != S_OK)
 		logHRESULT("error getting font out of collection in uiDrawFontFamiliesFamily()", hr);
-	hr = family->GetFamilyNames(&names);
-	if (hr != S_OK)
-		logHRESULT("error getting names of font out in uiDrawFontFamiliesFamily()", hr);
-
-	// this is complex, but we ignore failure conditions to allow fallbacks
-	// 1) If the user locale name was successfully retrieved, try it
-	// 2) If the user locale name was not successfully retrieved, or that locale's string does not exist, or an error occurred, try L"en-us", the US English locale
-	// 3) And if that fails, assume the first one
-	// This algorithm is straight from MSDN: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd368214%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
-	// For step 2 to work, start by setting hr to S_OK and exists to FALSE.
-	// TODO does it skip step 2 entirely if step 1 fails? rewrite it to be a more pure conversion of the MSDN code?
-	hr = S_OK;
-	exists = FALSE;
-	if (ff->userLocaleSuccess != 0)
-		hr = names->FindLocaleName(ff->userLocale, &index, &exists);
-	if (hr != S_OK || (hr == S_OK && !exists))
-		hr = names->FindLocaleName(L"en-us", &index, &exists);
-	if (!exists)
-		index = 0;
-
-	hr = names->GetStringLength(index, &length);
-	if (hr != S_OK)
-		logHRESULT("error getting length of font name in uiDrawFontFamiliesFamily()", hr);
-	// GetStringLength() does not include the null terminator, but GetString() does
-	wname = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((length + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR), "WCHAR[]");
-	hr = names->GetString(index, wname, length + 1);
-	if (hr != S_OK)
-		logHRESULT("error getting font name in uiDrawFontFamiliesFamily()", hr);
-
+	wname = fontCollectionFamilyName(ff->fc, family);
 	name = toUTF8(wname);
-
 	uiFree(wname);
-	names->Release();
 	family->Release();
 	return name;
 }
 
 void uiDrawFreeFontFamilies(uiDrawFontFamilies *ff)
 {
-	ff->fonts->Release();
+	fontCollectionFree(ff->fc);
 	uiFree(ff);
 }
 
diff --git a/windows/dwrite.cpp b/windows/dwrite.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da9ddfa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/windows/dwrite.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+// 14 april 2016
+// Before we begin, you may be wondering why this file is C++.
+// Simple: <dwrite.h> is C++ only! Thanks Microsoft!
+// And unlike UI Automation which accidentally just forgets the 'struct' and 'enum' tags in places, <dwrite.h> is a full C++ header file, with class definitions and the use of __uuidof. Oh well :/
+#include "uipriv_windows.h"
+
+IDWriteFactory *dwfactory = NULL;
+
+HRESULT initDrawText(void)
+{
+	// TOOD use DWRITE_FACTORY_TYPE_ISOLATED instead?
+	return DWriteCreateFactory(DWRITE_FACTORY_TYPE_SHARED,
+		__uuidof (IDWriteFactory),
+		(IUnknown **) (&dwfactory));
+}
+
+void uninitDrawText(void)
+{
+	dwfactory->Release();
+}
+
+fontCollection *loadFontCollection(void)
+{
+	fontCollection *fc;
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	fc = uiNew(fontCollection);
+	// always get the latest available font information
+	hr = dwfactory->GetSystemFontCollection(&(fc->fonts), TRUE);
+	if (hr != S_OK)
+		logHRESULT("error getting system font collection in loadFontCollection()", hr);
+	fc->userLocaleSuccess = GetUserDefaultLocaleName(fc->userLocale, LOCALE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH);
+	return fc;
+}
+
+WCHAR *fontCollectionFamilyName(fontCollection *fc, IDWriteFontFamily *family)
+{
+	IDWriteLocalizedStrings *names;
+	UINT32 index;
+	BOOL exists;
+	UINT32 length;
+	WCHAR *wname;
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	hr = family->GetFamilyNames(&names);
+	if (hr != S_OK)
+		logHRESULT("error getting names of font out in fontCollectionFamilyName()", hr);
+
+	// this is complex, but we ignore failure conditions to allow fallbacks
+	// 1) If the user locale name was successfully retrieved, try it
+	// 2) If the user locale name was not successfully retrieved, or that locale's string does not exist, or an error occurred, try L"en-us", the US English locale
+	// 3) And if that fails, assume the first one
+	// This algorithm is straight from MSDN: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd368214%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
+	// For step 2 to work, start by setting hr to S_OK and exists to FALSE.
+	// TODO does it skip step 2 entirely if step 1 fails? rewrite it to be a more pure conversion of the MSDN code?
+	hr = S_OK;
+	exists = FALSE;
+	if (fc->userLocaleSuccess != 0)
+		hr = names->FindLocaleName(fc->userLocale, &index, &exists);
+	if (hr != S_OK || (hr == S_OK && !exists))
+		hr = names->FindLocaleName(L"en-us", &index, &exists);
+	if (!exists)
+		index = 0;
+
+	hr = names->GetStringLength(index, &length);
+	if (hr != S_OK)
+		logHRESULT("error getting length of font name in fontCollectionFamilyName()", hr);
+	// GetStringLength() does not include the null terminator, but GetString() does
+	wname = (WCHAR *) uiAlloc((length + 1) * sizeof (WCHAR), "WCHAR[]");
+	hr = names->GetString(index, wname, length + 1);
+	if (hr != S_OK)
+		logHRESULT("error getting font name in fontCollectionFamilyName()", hr);
+
+	names->Release();
+	return wname;
+}
+
+void fontCollectionFree(fontCollection *fc)
+{
+	fc->fonts->Release();
+	uiFree(fc);
+}
diff --git a/windows/uipriv_windows.h b/windows/uipriv_windows.h
index 1ce3c8bd..c0090306 100644
--- a/windows/uipriv_windows.h
+++ b/windows/uipriv_windows.h
@@ -135,9 +135,24 @@ extern ID2D1HwndRenderTarget *makeHWNDRenderTarget(HWND hwnd);
 extern uiDrawContext *newContext(ID2D1RenderTarget *);
 extern void freeContext(uiDrawContext *);
 
-// drawtext.cpp
+// dwrite.cpp
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern IDWriteFactory *dwfactory;
+#endif
 extern HRESULT initDrawText(void);
 extern void uninitDrawText(void);
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+struct fontCollection {
+	IDWriteFontCollection *fonts;
+	WCHAR userLocale[LOCALE_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
+	int userLocaleSuccess;
+};
+extern fontCollection *loadFontCollection(void);
+extern WCHAR *fontCollectionFamilyName(fontCollection *fc, IDWriteFontFamily *family);
+extern void fontCollectionFree(fontCollection *fc);
+#endif
+
+// drawtext.cpp
 extern void doDrawText(ID2D1RenderTarget *rt, ID2D1Brush *black, double x, double y, uiDrawTextLayout *layout);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus