[tmgross]

I think both sides play a role - aiui cmd.exe (and other programs) interpret the arguments in an inconsistent way, but this is only relevant because there is no standard way to pass multiple arguments. I had something like this in mind:

- Create `CreateProcessArgv`, a version of `CreateProcess` that takes `argv` rather than `lpCommandLine` (like `execv*`)

- Create `GetCommandLineArgv`, an alternative to `GetCommandLine` that returns an `argv`

- Create `ProcessCreatedWithArgv` so a program can prefer either `GetCommandLine` or `GetCommandLineArgv` (for compatibility with those that have their own quoting, such as cmd)

Then child processes can use `GetCommandLineArgv` with no overhead if the parent invoked with `CreateProcessArgv`, otherwise `CreateProcess` and `GetCommandLine` will continue to work with no overhead. There would be a compatibility layer in the kernel to either split `lpCommandLine` or quote `argv` for `CreateProcess`+`GetCommandLineArgv` or `CreateProcessArgv`+`GetCommandLine` combinations. Probably need a way to opt out of taking `lpCmdLine` in `WinMain`.

Seems not-impossible, but also a bit of a pipe dream...

[layer8]

This creates compatibility issues with applications that inspect the command line of running programs and for example restart them with the same command line. It also probably ties in into a lot of general program-execution use cases like the Task Scheduler.