diff --git a/windows/CMakeLists.txt b/windows/CMakeLists.txt
index 5c401d06..f4a10998 100644
--- a/windows/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/windows/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ list(APPEND _LIBUI_SOURCES
 	windows/areaevents.cpp
 	windows/areascroll.cpp
 	windows/areautil.cpp
+	windows/attrstr.cpp
 	windows/box.cpp
 	windows/button.cpp
 	windows/checkbox.cpp
diff --git a/windows/attrstr.cpp b/windows/attrstr.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..10e9002a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/windows/attrstr.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,318 @@
+// 12 february 2017
+#include "uipriv_windows.hpp"
+#include "draw.hpp"
+
+// we need to collect all the OpenType features and background blocks and add them all at once
+// TODO(TODO does not seem to apply here) this is the wrong approach; it causes Pango to end runs early, meaning attributes like the ligature attributes never get applied properly
+// TODO contextual alternates override ligatures?
+// TODO rename this struct to something that isn't exclusively foreach-ing?
+struct foreachParams {
+	const uint16_t *s;
+	IDWriteTextLayout *layout;
+	std::map<size_t, IDWriteTypography *> *features;
+//TODO	GPtrArray *backgroundClosures;
+};
+
+#define isCodepointStart(w) ((((uint16_t) (w)) < 0xDC00) || (((uint16_t) (w)) >= 0xE000))
+
+static void ensureFeaturesInRange(struct foreachParams *p, size_t start, size_t end)
+{
+	size_t i;
+	size_t *key;
+	IDWriteTypography *t;
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	for (i = start; i < end; i++) {
+		// don't create redundant entries; see below
+		if (!isCodepointStart(p->s[i]))
+			continue;
+		t = (*(p->features))[i];
+		if (t != NULL)
+			continue;
+		hr = dwfactory->CreateTypography(&t);
+		if (hr != S_OK)
+			logHRESULT(L"error creating IDWriteTypography", hr);
+		(*(p->features))[i] = t;
+	}
+}
+
+#if 0 /* TODO */
+struct closureParams {
+	size_t start;
+	size_t end;
+	double r;
+	double g;
+	double b;
+	double a;
+};
+
+static void backgroundClosure(uiDrawContext *c, uiDrawTextLayout *layout, double x, double y, gpointer data)
+{
+	struct closureParams *p = (struct closureParams *) data;
+	uiDrawBrush brush;
+
+	brush.Type = uiDrawBrushTypeSolid;
+	brush.R = p->r;
+	brush.G = p->g;
+	brush.B = p->b;
+	brush.A = p->a;
+	drawTextBackground(c, x, y, layout, p->start, p->end, &brush, 0);
+}
+
+static void freeClosureParams(gpointer data, GClosure *closure)
+{
+	uiFree((struct closureParams *) data);
+}
+
+static GClosure *mkBackgroundClosure(size_t start, size_t end, double r, double g, double b, double a)
+{
+	struct closureParams *p;
+	GClosure *closure;
+
+	p = uiNew(struct closureParams);
+	p->start = start;
+	p->end = end;
+	p->r = r;
+	p->g = g;
+	p->b = b;
+	p->a = a;
+	closure = (GClosure *) g_cclosure_new(G_CALLBACK(backgroundClosure), p, freeClosureParams);
+	// TODO write a specific marshaler
+	// TODO or drop the closure stuff entirely
+	g_closure_set_marshal(closure, g_cclosure_marshal_generic);
+	return closure;
+}
+#endif
+
+struct otParam {
+	struct foreachParams *p;
+	size_t start;
+	size_t end;
+};
+
+static void doOpenType(const char *featureTag, uint32_t param, void *data)
+{
+	struct otParam *p = (struct otParam *) data;
+	size_t i;
+	IDWriteTypography *t;
+	DWRITE_FONT_FEATURE feature;
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	feature.nameTag = (DWRITE_FONT_FEATURE_TAG) DWRITE_MAKE_OPENTYPE_TAG(
+		featureTag[0],
+		featureTag[1],
+		featureTag[2],
+		featureTag[3]);
+	feature.parameter = param;
+	ensureFeaturesInRange(p->p, p->start, p->end);
+	for (i = p->start; i < p->end; i++) {
+		// don't use redundant entries; see below
+		if (!isCodepointStart(p->p->s[i]))
+			continue;
+		t = (*(p->p->features))[i];
+		hr = t->AddFontFeature(feature);
+		if (hr != S_OK)
+			logHRESULT(L"error adding feature to IDWriteTypography", hr);
+	}
+}
+
+static int processAttribute(uiAttributedString *s, uiAttributeSpec *spec, size_t start, size_t end, void *data)
+{
+	struct foreachParams *p = (struct foreachParams *) data;
+	DWRITE_TEXT_RANGE range;
+	WCHAR *wfamily;
+#if 0 /* TODO */
+	GClosure *closure;
+	PangoGravity gravity;
+	PangoUnderline underline;
+	PangoLanguage *lang;
+#endif
+	struct otParam op;
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	start = attrstrUTF8ToUTF16(s, start);
+	end = attrstrUTF8ToUTF16(s, end);
+	range.startPosition = start;
+	range.length = end - start;
+	switch (spec->Type) {
+	case uiAttributeFamily:
+		wfamily = toUTF16((char *) (spec->Value));
+		hr = p->layout->SetFontFamilyName(wfamily, range);
+		if (hr != S_OK)
+			logHRESULT(L"error applying family name attribute", hr);
+		uiFree(wfamily);
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeSize:
+		hr = p->layout->SetFontSize(
+// TODO unify with drawtext.cpp
+#define pointSizeToDWriteSize(size) (size * (96.0 / 72.0))
+			pointSizeToDWriteSize(spec->Double),
+			range);
+		if (hr != S_OK)
+			logHRESULT(L"error applying size attribute", hr);
+		break;
+#if 0 /* TODO */
+	case uiAttributeWeight:
+		// TODO reverse the misalignment from drawtext.c if it is corrected 
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_weight_new((PangoWeight) (spec->Value)));
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeItalic:
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_style_new(pangoItalics[(uiDrawTextItalic) (spec->Value)]));
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeStretch:
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_stretch_new(pangoStretches[(uiDrawTextStretch) (spec->Value)]));
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeColor:
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_foreground_new(
+				(guint16) (spec->R * 65535.0),
+				(guint16) (spec->G * 65535.0),
+				(guint16) (spec->B * 65535.0)));
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			FUTURE_pango_attr_foreground_alpha_new(
+				(guint16) (spec->A * 65535.0)));
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeBackground:
+		closure = mkBackgroundClosure(start, end,
+			spec->R, spec->G, spec->B, spec->A);
+		g_ptr_array_add(p->backgroundClosures, closure);
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeVerticalForms:
+		gravity = PANGO_GRAVITY_SOUTH;
+		if (spec->Value != 0)
+			gravity = PANGO_GRAVITY_EAST;
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_gravity_new(gravity));
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeUnderline:
+		switch (spec->Value) {
+		case uiDrawUnderlineStyleNone:
+			underline = PANGO_UNDERLINE_NONE;
+			break;
+		case uiDrawUnderlineStyleSingle:
+			underline = PANGO_UNDERLINE_SINGLE;
+			break;
+		case uiDrawUnderlineStyleDouble:
+			underline = PANGO_UNDERLINE_DOUBLE;
+			break;
+		case uiDrawUnderlineStyleSuggestion:
+			underline = PANGO_UNDERLINE_ERROR;
+			break;
+		}
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_underline_new(underline));
+		break;
+	case uiAttributeUnderlineColor:
+		switch (spec->Value) {
+		case uiDrawUnderlineColorCustom:
+			addattr(p, start, end,
+				pango_attr_underline_color_new(
+					(guint16) (spec->R * 65535.0),
+					(guint16) (spec->G * 65535.0),
+					(guint16) (spec->B * 65535.0)));
+			break;
+		case uiDrawUnderlineColorSpelling:
+			// TODO GtkTextView style property error-underline-color
+			addattr(p, start, end,
+				pango_attr_underline_color_new(65535, 0, 0));
+			break;
+		case uiDrawUnderlineColorGrammar:
+			// TODO find a more appropriate color
+			addattr(p, start, end,
+				pango_attr_underline_color_new(0, 65535, 0));
+			break;
+		case uiDrawUnderlineColorAuxiliary:
+			// TODO find a more appropriate color
+			addattr(p, start, end,
+				pango_attr_underline_color_new(0, 0, 65535));
+			break;
+		}
+		break;
+	// language strings are specified as BCP 47: https://developer.gnome.org/pango/1.30/pango-Scripts-and-Languages.html#pango-language-from-string https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3066.txt
+	case uiAttributeLanguage:
+		lang = pango_language_from_string((const char *) (spec->Value));
+		addattr(p, start, end,
+			pango_attr_language_new(lang));
+		// lang *cannot* be freed
+		break;
+#endif
+	// TODO
+	default:
+		// handle typographic features
+		op.p = p;
+		op.start = start;
+		op.end = end;
+		// TODO check if unhandled and complain
+		specToOpenType(spec, doOpenType, &op);
+		break;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static void applyAndFreeFeatureAttributes(struct foreachParams *p)
+{
+	DWRITE_TEXT_RANGE range;
+	HRESULT hr;
+
+	for (auto iter = p->features->begin(); iter != p->features->end(); iter++) {
+		// make sure we cover an entire code point
+		range.startPosition = iter->first;
+		range.length = 1;
+		if (!isCodepointStart(p->s[iter->first]))
+			range.length = 2;
+		hr = p->layout->SetTypography(iter->second, range);
+		if (hr != S_OK)
+			logHRESULT(L"error applying typographic features", hr);
+		iter->second->Release();
+	}
+	delete p->features;
+}
+
+#if 0 /* TODO */
+static void unrefClosure(gpointer data)
+{
+	g_closure_unref((GClosure *) data);
+}
+#endif
+
+void attrstrToIDWriteTextLayoutAttrs(uiDrawTextLayoutParams *p, IDWriteTextLayout *layout/*TODO, GPtrArray **backgroundClosures*/)
+{
+	struct foreachParams fep;
+
+	fep.s = attrstrUTF16(p->String);
+	fep.layout = layout;
+	fep.features = new std::map<size_t, IDWriteTypography *>;
+//TODO	fep.backgroundClosures = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func(unrefClosure);
+	uiAttributedStringForEachAttribute(p->String, processAttribute, &fep);
+	applyAndFreeFeatureAttributes(&fep);
+//TODO	*backgroundClosures = fep.backgroundClosures;
+}
+
+#if 0
+void invokeBackgroundClosure(GClosure *closure, uiDrawContext *c, uiDrawTextLayout *layout, double x, double y)
+{
+	GValue values[4] = {
+		// the zero-initialization is needed for g_value_init() to work
+		G_VALUE_INIT,
+		G_VALUE_INIT,
+		G_VALUE_INIT,
+		G_VALUE_INIT,
+	};
+
+	g_value_init(values + 0, G_TYPE_POINTER);
+	g_value_set_pointer(values + 0, c);
+	g_value_init(values + 1, G_TYPE_POINTER);
+	g_value_set_pointer(values + 1, layout);
+	g_value_init(values + 2, G_TYPE_DOUBLE);
+	g_value_set_double(values + 2, x);
+	g_value_init(values + 3, G_TYPE_DOUBLE);
+	g_value_set_double(values + 3, y);
+	g_closure_invoke(closure,
+		NULL,
+		4, values,
+		NULL);
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/windows/draw.hpp b/windows/draw.hpp
index b015791f..ce177523 100644
--- a/windows/draw.hpp
+++ b/windows/draw.hpp
@@ -14,3 +14,6 @@ extern ID2D1PathGeometry *pathGeometry(uiDrawPath *p);
 
 // drawmatrix.cpp
 extern void m2d(uiDrawMatrix *m, D2D1_MATRIX_3X2_F *d);
+
+// attrstr.cpp
+extern void attrstrToIDWriteTextLayoutAttrs(uiDrawTextLayoutParams *p, IDWriteTextLayout *layout/*TODO, GPtrArray **backgroundClosures*/);
diff --git a/windows/drawtext.cpp b/windows/drawtext.cpp
index 91c5a0c4..9f321f12 100644
--- a/windows/drawtext.cpp
+++ b/windows/drawtext.cpp
@@ -196,6 +196,8 @@ uiDrawTextLayout *uiDrawNewTextLayout(uiDrawTextLayoutParams *p)
 	if (hr != S_OK)
 		logHRESULT(L"error setting IDWriteTextLayout max layout width", hr);
 
+	attrstrToIDWriteTextLayoutAttrs(p, tl->layout);
+
 	computeLineInfo(tl);
 
 	// and finally copy the UTF-8/UTF-16 index conversion tables