mingw vs cygwin

[midgleyben@hotmail.com]

I have a question about the differences between cygwin adn mingw, with
reference to the ada compiler.

I need to port ada code to XP from linux, link c code (maybe c++) to
the project and create an exe which supports sockets (networking). So
which way mingw or cygwin ? I have read so many reports of problems
with c under mingw and just problems with gcc-ada but non particularly
up to date, any advice welcome.

Also if I get the whole cygwin installation I get mingw too, to my
understanding if I use mingw I statically link support for the windows
API and if I use the gcc-ada compiler I need to provide cygwin1.dll for
distribution, is this accurate and can anyone add detail to this
explanation ? 

Thanks in advance