Cross-compile C++ to Windows .exe from macOS with mingw-w64
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On macOS: brew install mingw-w64 provides x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ (64-bit) and i686-w64-mingw32-g++ (32-bit). To ship a standalone .exe that runs on a clean Windows 11 machine, link statically: -static -static-libgcc -static-libstdc++, otherwise the exe needs libstdc++-6.dll and libgcc_s_seh-1.dll next to it. Static build is ~12MB; -s -Os shrinks it. Windows 11 has no 32-bit edition so default to x86_64. Confirm with file foo.exe showing PE x86-64 for MS Windows.