diff --git a/Src/libCZI/CMakeLists.txt b/Src/libCZI/CMakeLists.txt
index 46c33ab0..64ddf9a2 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Src/libCZI/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -259,6 +259,14 @@ else()
   endif()
 endif()
 
+if (WIN32 OR CYGWIN OR MSYS OR MINGW)
+  set(libCZI_WINDOWSAPIAVAILABLE 1)
+  message(STATUS "*********** Windows-API available WIN32 is true ***********")
+else()
+  set(libCZI_WINDOWSAPIAVAILABLE 0)
+  message(STATUS "*********** Windows-API NOT available WIN32 is false ***********")
+endif()
+
 configure_file (
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/libCZI_Config.h.in"
   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libCZI_Config.h"
@@ -304,6 +312,9 @@ if (LIBCZI_BUILD_DYNLIB)
   IF(UNIX)
     target_compile_options(libCZI PRIVATE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64)
   ENDIF(UNIX)
+  if( libCZI_WINDOWSAPIAVAILABLE)
+    target_link_libraries(libCZI PRIVATE ole32 Windowscodecs)
+  endif()
 endif(LIBCZI_BUILD_DYNLIB)
 
 #
@@ -342,7 +353,9 @@ IF(UNIX)
   target_compile_options(libCZIStatic PRIVATE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64)
   set_property(TARGET libCZIStatic PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
 ENDIF(UNIX)
-
+if( libCZI_WINDOWSAPIAVAILABLE)
+    target_link_libraries(libCZIStatic PUBLIC ole32 Windowscodecs)
+endif()
 
 #
 # Notes: - the variables CMAKE_INSTALL_<...> have been defined in the module "GNUInstallDirs"
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.cpp b/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.cpp
index f99e4d92..df2ae07e 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.cpp
+++ b/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ COutputStreamImplPwrite::~COutputStreamImplPwrite()
 
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 
 CSimpleOutputStreamImplWindows::CSimpleOutputStreamImplWindows(const wchar_t* filename, bool overwriteExisting)
     : handle(INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ CInputOutputStreamImplPreadPwrite::~CInputOutputStreamImplPreadPwrite()
 
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 CSimpleInputOutputStreamImplWindows::CSimpleInputOutputStreamImplWindows(const wchar_t* filename)
     : handle(INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
 {
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.h b/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.h
index 6bce2b82..1ce6edff 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.h
+++ b/Src/libCZI/StreamImpl.h
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#include <memory>
 #include "libCZI.h"
 #include "inc_libCZI_Config.h"
-#if defined(_WIN32)
-    #include <Windows.h>
+#include <memory>
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
+#include <Windows.h>
 #endif
 
 /// <summary>   A simplistic output-stream implementation (based on C-runtime fopen). Note that this implementation is NOT thread-safe.</summary>
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class COutputStreamImplPwrite : public libCZI::IOutputStream
 };
 #endif
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 
 class CSimpleOutputStreamImplWindows : public libCZI::IOutputStream
 {
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class CInputOutputStreamImplPreadPwrite : public libCZI::IInputOutputStream
 };
 #endif
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 class CSimpleInputOutputStreamImplWindows : public libCZI::IInputOutputStream
 {
 private:
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.cpp b/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.cpp
index 167c7ba3..059af9e8 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.cpp
+++ b/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.cpp
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 #include "windowsfileinputstream.h"
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 #include <limits>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include "../utilities.h"
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.h b/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.h
index c01022b3..dc0da30f 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.h
+++ b/Src/libCZI/StreamsLib/windowsfileinputstream.h
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 #pragma once
 #include <libCZI_Config.h>
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 #include <string>
 #include "../libCZI.h"
 #include <Windows.h>
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.cpp b/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.cpp
index 720343de..2d6d15b6 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.cpp
+++ b/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.cpp
@@ -2,14 +2,15 @@
 //
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-3.0-or-later
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
 #include "decoder_wic.h"
+
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 #include "BitmapOperations.h"
 #include <wincodec.h>
 
 #include "Site.h"
-
-#pragma comment(lib, "Windowscodecs.lib")
+//
+//#pragma comment(lib, "Windowscodecs.lib")
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace libCZI;
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.h b/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.h
index 11b0c62f..b18cd811 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.h
+++ b/Src/libCZI/decoder_wic.h
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#include <libCZI_Config.h>
+
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 
 #include <memory>
 #include "libCZI_Pixels.h"
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/libCZI.h b/Src/libCZI/libCZI.h
index aa474830..48bca598 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/libCZI.h
+++ b/Src/libCZI/libCZI.h
@@ -35,10 +35,8 @@ namespace libCZI
     enum class SiteObjectType
     {
         Default,        ///< An enum constant representing the default option (which is JXRLib)
-        WithJxrDecoder  ///< An enum constant representing a Site-object using the internal JXRLib.
-#if defined(_WIN32)
-        , WithWICDecoder///< An enum constant representing a Site-object using the Windows WIC-codec.
-#endif
+        WithJxrDecoder, ///< An enum constant representing a Site-object using the internal JXRLib.
+        WithWICDecoder, ///< An enum constant representing a Site-object using the Windows WIC-codec.
     };
 
     class ISite;
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Config.h.in b/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Config.h.in
index dcc52aa2..e490e60a 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Config.h.in
+++ b/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Config.h.in
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 #define LIBCZI_VERSION_PATCH "@libCZI_VERSION_PATCH@"
 #define LIBCZI_VERSION_TWEAK "@libCZI_VERSION_TWEAK@"
 
+// whether the libCZI library is built with support for the Windows-API, i.e. whether it is being built for a Windows-environment
+#define LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE @libCZI_WINDOWSAPIAVAILABLE@
+
 // if the host system is a big-endian system, this is "1", otherwise 0
 #define LIBCZI_ISBIGENDIANHOST @libCZI_ISBIGENDIANHOST@
 
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Site.cpp b/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Site.cpp
index 5aa84264..de77a4c4 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Site.cpp
+++ b/Src/libCZI/libCZI_Site.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-3.0-or-later
 
 #include "libCZI.h"
+#include "inc_libCZI_Config.h"
 #include "decoder.h"
 #include "decoder_zstd.h"
 #include <mutex>
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ class CSiteImpBase : public ISite
     }
 };
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 class CSiteImpWic : public CSiteImpBase
 {
 private:
@@ -139,7 +140,7 @@ class CSiteImpJxrLib : public CSiteImpBase
     }
 };
 
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 static CSiteImpWic theWicSite;
 #endif
 static CSiteImpJxrLib theJxrLibSite;
@@ -168,7 +169,7 @@ libCZI::ISite* libCZI::GetDefaultSiteObject(SiteObjectType type)
 {
     switch (type)
     {
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
     case SiteObjectType::WithWICDecoder:
         return &theWicSite;
 #endif
diff --git a/Src/libCZI/utilities.cpp b/Src/libCZI/utilities.cpp
index fbb7c3e2..28d9538a 100644
--- a/Src/libCZI/utilities.cpp
+++ b/Src/libCZI/utilities.cpp
@@ -3,18 +3,17 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-3.0-or-later
 
 #include "utilities.h"
+#include "inc_libCZI_Config.h"
 #include <locale>
 #include <codecvt>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <array>
-#if !defined(_WIN32)
-#include <random>
-#endif
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
 #include <Windows.h>
+#else
+#include <random>
 #endif
-#include "inc_libCZI_Config.h"
 #if LIBCZI_HAVE_ENDIAN_H
 #include "endian.h"
 #endif
@@ -124,7 +123,7 @@ tString trimImpl(const tString& str, const tString& whitespace)
 
 /*static*/libCZI::GUID Utilities::GenerateNewGuid()
 {
-#if defined(_WIN32)
+#if LIBCZI_WINDOWSAPI_AVAILABLE
     ::GUID guid;
     CoCreateGuid(&guid);
     libCZI::GUID guid_value