Directory Statistics for Windows
Why should you use Unicode? Here are some compelling reasons. Note that Unicode versions are available for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista, and although they may work on Windows 9x/ME with the Unicode layer installed, we do not support this configuration.
Performance: The Unicode version runs faster. Starting with NT, Windows supports Unicode natively. The ANSI system functions are merely wrappers around the actual Unicode functions. When text (e.g., file names) is passed to an ANSI function, it is first converted to Unicode and then discarded after the call, making the Unicode version more efficient on the NT platform.
Character Representation: Unicode allows for the representation of all kinds of characters without changing the code page. On Windows 9x/ME, you had to configure your system to display a certain language. In contrast, newer systems can use a multitude of languages without reconfiguration. Here’s a demonstration:
Without Unicode:Only certain characters are displayed directly, and some are replaced by question marks, which can be problematic. Question marks are often interpreted as wildcards by file-handling applications, causing issues with file operations. Additionally, some characters are substituted with locally available ones. For example, note the difference between β (Greek letter beta) and ß (German ligature sz).
On an NT platform, encountering systems with text in Chinese, Hebrew, German, and Russian simultaneously is possible. The ANSI version would struggle in such scenarios, as the system would not understand certain filenames, hindering file and directory operations.
With Unicode:In this example, characters are displayed as they would appear in their respective countries. Although Georgian characters show as squares, this is due to the font lacking graphical representations for those characters. This is a cosmetic issue, not a functional one. File operations remain accurate, even if the filename appears differently. This is the main advantage of the Unicode version.
Furthermore, Unicode enables users, such as Poles or Russians, to use WinDirStat in their preferred language, even on Western Windows versions that may not support all necessary characters in the ANSI version.