UnicodeÔ can represent all the world's characters in modern computer use, including technical symbols and special characters needed in publishing. Each Unicode character is 16 bits wide. Often, the name “wide character” is used synonymously.
The Windows 32-bit API supports applications that use Unicode, in addition to applications that use the regular ANSI character set. Mixed use in the same application is also possible.
The Windows 32-bit API is designed to make porting from existing Windows applications straightforward. Unicode support is no exception. Adding Unicode support to your application is easy, and you can even maintain a single set of sources from which to compile a program that supports Unicode or the Windows ANSI character set.