I am having trouble determining the difference between MSysGit and Git for Windows. How are they different? Why would I choose one over the other?
Answer
Are they not the same thing?
On: http://msysgit.github.com/ The title is Git for Windows, the application is msysgit.
Even in the event they are not, I expect the only differences will be in the method of compilation (i.e. compiler used and any options set) and any extraneous packaging (such as having a bash emulating shell as in msysgit). The actual product (Git itself) should remain broadly similar.
Edit: Thanks to Jarrod for pointing this out. I've left the above in for posterity. To quote the wiki:
msysGit is the development environment to compile Git for Windows. It is complete, in the sense that you just need to install msysGit, and then you can build Git. Without installing any 3rd-party software. msysGit is not Git for Windows; that is an installer which installs Git -- and only Git.
It is easy to see the difference: the installers for Git have the prefix Git-, the msysGit installers have the prefix msysGit-. Another telltale is that the msysGit installers come in two flavors: fullinstall and netinstall. Further, msysGit does not install to C:\Program Files by default. But msysGit comes with gcc, the GNU C Compiler.
So, the difference between the two projects:
- msysGit is the
msys+mingwenvironment + everything needed to compile Git yourself, on Windows. - Git for Windows is exactly that: Git, compiled for Windows.