diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7547a464..45ef94ca 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -30,3 +30,9 @@ version.txt
 .DS_Store
 Info.plist
 GoldenDict.xcodeproj/
+
+# visual studio files
+*.sdf
+*.opensdf
+*.suo
+*.vcxproj.user
diff --git a/about.cc b/about.cc
index 897bfb39..0e92e9ce 100644
--- a/about.cc
+++ b/about.cc
@@ -19,9 +19,19 @@ About::About( QWidget * parent ): QDialog( parent )
     version = QString::fromLatin1( versionFile.readAll() ).trimmed();
 
   ui.version->setText( version );
+
+#if defined (_MSC_VER)
+  QString compilerVersion = QString( "Visual C++ %1.%2.%3" )
+                               .arg( GD_CXX_MSVC_MAJOR )
+                               .arg( GD_CXX_MSVC_MINOR )
+                               .arg( GD_CXX_MSVC_BUILD );
+#else
+  QString compilerVersion = QLatin1String( "GCC " ) + QLatin1String( __VERSION__ );
+#endif
+
   ui.qtVersion->setText( tr( "Based on Qt %1 (%2, %3 bit)" ).arg(
                            QLatin1String( qVersion() ),
-                           QLatin1String( "GCC " ) + QLatin1String( __VERSION__ ),
+                           compilerVersion,
                            QString::number( QSysInfo::WordSize ) ) );
 
   QFile creditsFile( ":/CREDITS.txt" );
diff --git a/about.hh b/about.hh
index 732ad13b..2376f19a 100644
--- a/about.hh
+++ b/about.hh
@@ -4,8 +4,22 @@
 #ifndef ABOUT_HH
 #define ABOUT_HH
 
-#include <QDialog>
 #include "ui_about.h"
+#include <QDialog>
+
+// Microsoft Visual C++ version
+#if defined (_MSC_VER)
+   // how many digits does the build number have?
+#  if _MSC_FULL_VER / 10000 == _MSC_VER
+#    define GD_CXX_MSVC_BUILD (_MSC_FULL_VER % 10000)  // four digits
+#  elif _MSC_FULL_VER / 100000 == _MSC_VER
+#    define GD_CXX_MSVC_BUILD (_MSC_FULL_VER % 100000) // five digits
+#  else
+#    define GD_CXX_MSVC_BUILD 0
+#  endif
+#  define GD_CXX_MSVC_MAJOR (_MSC_VER/100-6)
+#  define GD_CXX_MSVC_MINOR (_MSC_VER%100)
+#endif
 
 class About: public QDialog
 {
diff --git a/article_maker.cc b/article_maker.cc
index 71c15c11..41b52680 100644
--- a/article_maker.cc
+++ b/article_maker.cc
@@ -446,13 +446,7 @@ void ArticleRequest::altSearchFinished()
 
     for( unsigned x = 0; x < altsVector.size(); ++x )
     {
-      DPRINTF( "Alt: %ls\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-               gd::toQString( altsVector[ x ] ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-               altsVector[ x ].c_str()
-#endif
-               );
+      qDebug() << "Alt:" << gd::toQString( altsVector[ x ] );
     }
 
     wstring wordStd = gd::toWString( word );
diff --git a/article_netmgr.cc b/article_netmgr.cc
index f6b7ec00..3347715b 100644
--- a/article_netmgr.cc
+++ b/article_netmgr.cc
@@ -301,6 +301,11 @@ qint64 ArticleResourceReply::bytesAvailable() const
 
 qint64 ArticleResourceReply::readData( char * out, qint64 maxSize )
 {
+  // From the doc: "This function might be called with a maxSize of 0,
+  // which can be used to perform post-reading operations".
+  if ( maxSize == 0 )
+    return 0;
+
   DPRINTF( "====reading %d bytes\n", (int)maxSize );
 
   bool finished = req->isFinished();
diff --git a/chunkedstorage.cc b/chunkedstorage.cc
index 4a3e0cbb..761eb1b8 100644
--- a/chunkedstorage.cc
+++ b/chunkedstorage.cc
@@ -125,7 +125,10 @@ Reader::Reader( File::Class & f, uint32_t offset ): file( f )
 {
   file.seek( offset );
 
-  offsets.resize( file.read< uint32_t >() );
+  uint32_t size =  file.read< uint32_t >();
+  if ( size == 0 )
+    return;
+  offsets.resize( size );
   file.read( &offsets.front(), offsets.size() * sizeof( uint32_t ) );
 }
 
diff --git a/dictionary.cc b/dictionary.cc
index 6c861f91..88b65b8b 100644
--- a/dictionary.cc
+++ b/dictionary.cc
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@ long DataRequest::dataSize()
 void DataRequest::getDataSlice( size_t offset, size_t size, void * buffer )
   throw( exSliceOutOfRange )
 {
+  if ( size == 0 )
+    return;
+
   Mutex::Lock _( dataMutex );
 
   if ( offset + size > data.size() || !hasAnyData )
diff --git a/dictzip.c b/dictzip.c
index 3b808a71..b1658373 100644
--- a/dictzip.c
+++ b/dictzip.c
@@ -460,6 +460,9 @@ dictData *dict_data_open( const char *filename, int computeCRC )
 
    for(;;)
    {
+#ifdef __WIN32
+     wchar_t wname[16384];
+#endif
      if (dict_read_header( filename, h, computeCRC )) {
        break; /*
         err_fatal( __func__,
@@ -467,7 +470,6 @@ dictData *dict_data_open( const char *filename, int computeCRC )
      }
 
 #ifdef __WIN32
-     wchar_t wname[16384];
      if( MultiByteToWideChar( CP_UTF8, 0, filename, -1, wname, 16384 ) == 0 )
        break;
 
@@ -543,9 +545,8 @@ char *dict_data_read_ (
    dictData *h, unsigned long start, unsigned long size,
    const char *preFilter, const char *postFilter )
 {
-   (void) preFilter;
-   (void) postFilter;
-   char          *buffer, *pt;
+   char * buffer;
+   char * pt;
    unsigned long end;
    int           count;
    char          *inBuffer;
@@ -554,6 +555,8 @@ char *dict_data_read_ (
    int           firstOffset, lastOffset;
    int           i, j;
    int           found, target, lastStamp;
+   (void) preFilter;
+   (void) postFilter;
 
    end  = start + size;
 
@@ -670,6 +673,10 @@ char *dict_data_read_ (
 	    count = h->cache[target].count;
 	    inBuffer = h->cache[target].inBuffer;
 	 } else {
+#ifdef __WIN32
+        DWORD pos ;
+        DWORD readed;
+#endif
 	    h->cache[target].chunk = -1;
 	    if (!h->cache[target].inBuffer)
 	       h->cache[target].inBuffer = xmalloc( h->chunkLength );
@@ -688,8 +695,8 @@ char *dict_data_read_ (
 	    }
 
 #ifdef __WIN32
-      DWORD pos = SetFilePointer( h->fd, h->offsets[ i ], 0, FILE_BEGIN );
-      DWORD readed = 0;
+      pos = SetFilePointer( h->fd, h->offsets[ i ], 0, FILE_BEGIN );
+      readed = 0;
       if( pos != INVALID_SET_FILE_POINTER || GetLastError() != NO_ERROR )
         ReadFile( h->fd, outBuffer, h->chunks[ i ], &readed, 0 );
       if( h->chunks[ i ] != readed )
diff --git a/dsl.cc b/dsl.cc
index 1be87892..5f976788 100644
--- a/dsl.cc
+++ b/dsl.cc
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ void DslDictionary::doDeferredInit()
 
       chunks = new ChunkedStorage::Reader( idx, idxHeader.chunksOffset );
 
-      // Open the .dict file
+      // Open the .dsl file
 
       dz = dict_data_open( getDictionaryFilenames()[ 0 ].c_str(), 0 );
 
@@ -1607,13 +1607,8 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
         // Building the index
         initializing.indexingDictionary( Utf8::encode( scanner.getDictionaryName() ) );
 
-        DPRINTF( "Dictionary name: %ls\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-                 gd::toQString( scanner.getDictionaryName() ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-                 scanner.getDictionaryName().c_str()
-#endif
-        );
+        qDebug() << "Building the index for dictionary:"
+                 << gd::toQString( scanner.getDictionaryName() );
 
         File::Class idx( indexFile, "wb" );
 
@@ -1795,13 +1790,7 @@ vector< sptr< Dictionary::Class > > makeDictionaries(
             if ( isDslWs( curString[ 0 ] ) )
               break; // No more headwords
 
-            DPRINTF( "Alt headword: %ls\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-                     gd::toQString( curString ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-                     curString.c_str()
-#endif
-                     );
+            qDebug() << "Alt headword" << gd::toQString( curString );
 
             processUnsortedParts( curString, true );
             expandTildes( curString, allEntryWords.front() );
diff --git a/dsl_details.cc b/dsl_details.cc
index 231518b0..752015a0 100644
--- a/dsl_details.cc
+++ b/dsl_details.cc
@@ -2,16 +2,15 @@
  * Part of GoldenDict. Licensed under GPLv3 or later, see the LICENSE file */
 
 #include "dsl_details.hh"
+
 #include "folding.hh"
 #include "langcoder.hh"
-#include <wctype.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
 #include "dprintf.hh"
 #include "ufile.hh"
-
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
 #include "wstring_qt.hh"
-#endif
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <wctype.h>
 
 namespace Dsl {
 namespace Details {
@@ -545,13 +544,8 @@ void ArticleDom::closeTag( wstring const & name,
   else
   if ( warn )
   {
-    FDPRINTF( stderr, "Warning: no corresponding opening tag for closing tag \"/%ls\" found.\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-              gd::toQString( name ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-              name.c_str()
-#endif
-              );
+    qWarning() << "Warning: no corresponding opening tag for closing tag" <<
+                   gd::toQString( name ) << "found.";
   }
 }
 
@@ -592,7 +586,7 @@ void ArticleDom::nextChar() throw( eot )
 
 DslScanner::DslScanner( string const & fileName ) throw( Ex, Iconv::Ex ):
   encoding( Windows1252 ), iconv( encoding ), readBufferPtr( readBuffer ),
-  readBufferLeft( 0 ), linesRead( 0 )
+  readBufferLeft( 0 ), wcharBuffer( 64 ), linesRead( 0 )
 {
   // Since .dz is backwards-compatible with .gz, we use gz- functions to
   // read it -- they are much nicer than the dict_data- ones.
diff --git a/dsl_details.hh b/dsl_details.hh
index 94c747d4..b2d7cc92 100644
--- a/dsl_details.hh
+++ b/dsl_details.hh
@@ -171,12 +171,12 @@ void expandOptionalParts( wstring & str, list< wstring > * result,
 /// them.
 void expandTildes( wstring & str, wstring const & tildeReplacement );
 
-// Unescapes any escaped chars. Be sure to handle all their special meanings
-// before unescaping them.
+/// Unescapes any escaped chars. Be sure to handle all their special meanings
+/// before unescaping them.
 void unescapeDsl( wstring & str );
 
-// Normalizes the headword. Currently turns any sequences of consecutive spaces
-// into a single space.
+/// Normalizes the headword. Currently turns any sequences of consecutive spaces
+/// into a single space.
 void normalizeHeadword( wstring & );
 
 /// Strip DSL {{...}} comments
diff --git a/file.cc b/file.cc
index 50737675..aa4a51f5 100644
--- a/file.cc
+++ b/file.cc
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
 #include <unistd.h>
+#endif
 
 #ifdef __WIN32
 #include <windows.h>
@@ -248,7 +250,7 @@ bool Class::eof() throw( exWriteError )
   if ( writeBuffer )
     flushWriteBuffer();
 
-  return feof( f );
+  return feof( f ) != 0;
 }
 
 FILE * Class::file() throw( exWriteError )
diff --git a/forvo.cc b/forvo.cc
index 332871c6..3c6b59f1 100644
--- a/forvo.cc
+++ b/forvo.cc
@@ -153,13 +153,7 @@ ForvoArticleRequest::ForvoArticleRequest( wstring const & str,
 void ForvoArticleRequest::addQuery( QNetworkAccessManager & mgr,
                                     wstring const & str )
 {
-  DPRINTF( "Requesting article %ls\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-           gd::toQString( str ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-           str.c_str()
-#endif
-           );
+  qDebug() << "Requesting article" << gd::toQString( str );
 
   QString key;
 
diff --git a/hunspell.cc b/hunspell.cc
index c4a2763b..f6995f61 100644
--- a/hunspell.cc
+++ b/hunspell.cc
@@ -495,13 +495,7 @@ QVector< wstring > HunspellHeadwordsRequest::suggest( wstring & word )
 
           if ( Folding::applySimpleCaseOnly( alt ) != lowercasedWord ) // No point in providing same word
           {
-            DPRINTF( ">>>>>Alt: %ls\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-                     gd::toQString( alt ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-                     alt.c_str()
-#endif
-                     );
+            qDebug() << ">>>>>Alt:" << gd::toQString( alt );
             result.append( alt );
           }
         }
diff --git a/langcoder.cc b/langcoder.cc
index 1ae3174b..ea410642 100644
--- a/langcoder.cc
+++ b/langcoder.cc
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
+/* This file is (c) 2008-2013 Konstantin Isakov <ikm@goldendict.org>
+ * Part of GoldenDict. Licensed under GPLv3 or later, see the LICENSE file */
+
 #include "langcoder.hh"
 #include "folding.hh"
 #include "wstring_qt.hh"
 #include "language.hh"
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#include <stub_msvc.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <cctype>
 #include <QLocale>
 
diff --git a/mediawiki.cc b/mediawiki.cc
index fbbc09f4..1bca49c2 100644
--- a/mediawiki.cc
+++ b/mediawiki.cc
@@ -254,13 +254,7 @@ MediaWikiArticleRequest::MediaWikiArticleRequest( wstring const & str,
 void MediaWikiArticleRequest::addQuery( QNetworkAccessManager & mgr,
                                         wstring const & str )
 {
-  DPRINTF( "Requesting article %ls\n",
-#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
-           gd::toQString( str ).toStdWString().c_str()
-#else
-           str.c_str()
-#endif
-           );
+  qDebug() << "Requesting article" << gd::toQString( str );
 
   QUrl reqUrl( url + "/api.php?action=parse&prop=text|revid&format=xml&redirects" );
 
@@ -367,8 +361,6 @@ void MediaWikiArticleRequest::requestFinished( QNetworkReply * r )
 
             QByteArray articleBody = articleString.toUtf8();
   
-            DPRINTF( "Article body after: %s\n", articleBody.data() );
-  
             articleBody.prepend( dictPtr->isToLanguageRTL() ? "<div class=\"mwiki\" dir=\"rtl\">" :
                                                               "<div class=\"mwiki\">" );
             articleBody.append( "</div>" );
diff --git a/mouseover.cc b/mouseover.cc
index ed634064..df2826e1 100644
--- a/mouseover.cc
+++ b/mouseover.cc
@@ -25,16 +25,16 @@ MouseOver & MouseOver::instance()
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN32
 const UINT WM_MY_SHOW_TRANSLATION = WM_USER + 301;
 static wchar_t className[] = L"GoldenDictMouseover";
-typedef BOOL WINAPI ( *ChangeWindowMessageFilterFunc )( UINT, DWORD );
+typedef BOOL ( WINAPI  *ChangeWindowMessageFilterFunc )( UINT, DWORD );
 
-#ifndef CHANGEFILTERSTRUCT
+#ifndef WINAPI_FAMILY
 typedef struct tagCHANGEFILTERSTRUCT {
   DWORD cbSize;
   DWORD ExtStatus;
 } CHANGEFILTERSTRUCT, *PCHANGEFILTERSTRUCT;
 #endif
 
-typedef BOOL WINAPI ( *ChangeWindowMessageFilterExFunc )( HWND, UINT, DWORD, PCHANGEFILTERSTRUCT );
+typedef BOOL ( WINAPI  *ChangeWindowMessageFilterExFunc )( HWND, UINT, DWORD, PCHANGEFILTERSTRUCT );
 
 #endif // Q_OS_WIN32
 
diff --git a/termination.cc b/termination.cc
index c01c6787..0828bdf6 100644
--- a/termination.cc
+++ b/termination.cc
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 #include "termination.hh"
 #include <exception>
 #include <typeinfo>
+
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
 #include <cxxabi.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <string>
 
 #ifndef __WIN32
@@ -28,13 +32,24 @@ static void termHandler()
   char * function = 0;
   size_t functionLength = 0;
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+  std::type_info * ti = 0;
+#else
   std::type_info * ti = __cxxabiv1::__cxa_current_exception_type();
+#endif
 
   if ( ti )
   {
     char const * name = ti->name();
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+    char * ret = 0;
+    // avoid 'unused' warnings
+    (void) status;
+    (void) functionLength;
+#else
     char * ret = abi::__cxa_demangle( name, function, &functionLength, &status );
+#endif
 
     if ( ret )
     {
diff --git a/ufile.cc b/ufile.cc
index 71145c84..c78079ee 100644
--- a/ufile.cc
+++ b/ufile.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifdef __WIN32
 
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <io.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <windows.h>
 
diff --git a/ufile.hh b/ufile.hh
index 36dc12e8..a7a9d3d4 100644
--- a/ufile.hh
+++ b/ufile.hh
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@
 
 #include "zlib.h"
 
+// eliminate some VC++ warnings
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#define fileno _fileno
+#endif
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C"
 {
diff --git a/utf8.cc b/utf8.cc
index d5151b7d..9d8e66dc 100644
--- a/utf8.cc
+++ b/utf8.cc
@@ -141,6 +141,10 @@ string encode( wstring const & in ) throw()
 
 wstring decode( string const & in ) throw( exCantDecode )
 {
+  
+  if ( in.size() == 0 )
+    return wstring();
+
   std::vector< wchar > buffer( in.size() );
 
   long result = decode( in.data(),  in.size(), &buffer.front() );
diff --git a/wordbyauto.cc b/wordbyauto.cc
index bc20309d..c56b415f 100644
--- a/wordbyauto.cc
+++ b/wordbyauto.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <servprov.h>
-#include <winable.h>
 #include "wordbyauto.hh"
 #include "uiauto.hh"
 
@@ -12,7 +11,7 @@ public:
     GDAutomationClient();
     ~GDAutomationClient();
     bool getWordAtPoint( POINT pt );
-    WCHAR *getText() { return buffer; };
+    WCHAR *getText() { return buffer; }
 private:
     WCHAR buffer[256];
     IUIAutomation *pGDAutomation;
diff --git a/xdxf.cc b/xdxf.cc
index 699fd419..9980870e 100644
--- a/xdxf.cc
+++ b/xdxf.cc
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@
 #include "indexedzip.hh"
 #include "filetype.hh"
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+#include <stub_msvc.h>
+#endif
+
 #include <QIODevice>
 #include <QXmlStreamReader>
 #include <QTextDocument>
@@ -94,7 +98,11 @@ struct IdxHeader
                                      // resource index.
   uint32_t zipIndexRootOffset;
   uint32_t revisionNumber; // Format revision 
-} __attribute__((packed));
+}
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+__attribute__((packed))
+#endif
+;
 
 bool indexIsOldOrBad( string const & indexFile )
 {
diff --git a/zipfile.cc b/zipfile.cc
index 397a111c..7c4f1562 100644
--- a/zipfile.cc
+++ b/zipfile.cc
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ struct EndOfCdirRecord
   quint16 numDisk, numDiskCd, totalEntriesDisk, totalEntries;
   quint32 size, offset;
   quint16 commentLength;
-} __attribute__((packed));
+}
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+__attribute__((packed))
+#endif
+;
 
 struct CentralFileHeaderRecord
 {
@@ -26,7 +30,11 @@ struct CentralFileHeaderRecord
   quint16 fileNameLength, extraFieldLength, fileCommentLength, diskNumberStart,
           intFileAttrs;
   quint32 externalFileAttrs, offsetOfLocalHeader;
-} __attribute__((packed));
+}
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+__attribute__((packed))
+#endif
+;
 
 struct LocalFileHeaderRecord
 {
@@ -34,7 +42,11 @@ struct LocalFileHeaderRecord
   quint16 verNeeded, gpBits, compressionMethod, fileTime, fileDate;
   quint32 crc32, compressedSize, uncompressedSize;
   quint16 fileNameLength, extraFieldLength;
-} __attribute__((packed));
+}
+#ifndef _MSC_VER
+__attribute__((packed))
+#endif
+;
 
 #pragma pack( pop )