diff --git a/App/NatronApp_main.cpp b/App/NatronApp_main.cpp
index 6af0a5d11a..db3131c01f 100644
--- a/App/NatronApp_main.cpp
+++ b/App/NatronApp_main.cpp
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ NATRON_NAMESPACE_USING
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN
 // g++ knows nothing about wmain
 // https://sourceforge.net/p/mingw-w64/wiki2/Unicode%20apps/
+// If it fails to compile it means either UNICODE or _UNICODE is not defined (it should be in global.pri) and
+// the project is not linking against -municode
 extern "C" {
 int wmain(int argc, wchar_t** argv)
 #else
@@ -94,7 +96,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         AppManager manager;
 
         // coverity[tainted_data]
+#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
+        if ( !manager.loadW(argc, argv, args) ) {
+#else
         if ( !manager.load(argc, argv, args) ) {
+#endif
             return 1;
         } else {
             return 0;
@@ -103,8 +109,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         GuiApplicationManager manager;
 
         // coverity[tainted_data]
+#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
+        return manager.loadW(argc, argv, args);
+#else
         return manager.load(argc, argv, args);
-
+#endif
         //exec() is called within the GuiApplicationManager
     }
 } // main
diff --git a/Engine/AppManager.cpp b/Engine/AppManager.cpp
index 0843a1dd0a..939c49501f 100644
--- a/Engine/AppManager.cpp
+++ b/Engine/AppManager.cpp
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@
 
 #include "Global/ProcInfo.h"
 #include "Global/GLIncludes.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 #include "Engine/AppInstance.h"
 #include "Engine/Backdrop.h"
@@ -454,7 +455,7 @@ AppManager::load(int argc,
 }
 
 bool
-AppManager::load(int argc,
+AppManager::loadW(int argc,
                  wchar_t **argv,
                  const CLArgs& cl)
 {
@@ -2913,11 +2914,11 @@ AppManager::initPython()
 
 #ifndef IS_PYTHON_2
 #ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
-    static const std::wstring pythonHome( Global::utf8_to_utf16(".") );
+    static const std::wstring pythonHome( StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16(".") );
 #elif defined(__NATRON_LINUX__)
-    static const std::wstring pythonHome( Global::utf8_to_utf16("../lib") );
+    static const std::wstring pythonHome( StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16("../lib") );
 #elif defined(__NATRON_OSX__)
-    static const std::wstring pythonHome( Global::utf8_to_utf16("../Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/" NATRON_PY_VERSION_STRING "/lib") );
+    static const std::wstring pythonHome( StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16("../Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/" NATRON_PY_VERSION_STRING "/lib") );
 #endif
     Py_SetPythonHome( const_cast<wchar_t*>( pythonHome.c_str() ) );
     PySys_SetArgv( argc, &_imp->args.front() ); /// relative module import
diff --git a/Engine/AppManager.h b/Engine/AppManager.h
index a2d0907a43..f0c17d1361 100644
--- a/Engine/AppManager.h
+++ b/Engine/AppManager.h
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ GCC_DIAG_SUGGEST_OVERRIDE_ON
      * main process.
      **/
     bool load( int argc, char **argv, const CLArgs& cl);
-    bool load( int argc, wchar_t **argv, const CLArgs& cl);
+    bool loadW( int argc, wchar_t **argv, const CLArgs& cl);
 
 private:
 
diff --git a/Engine/AppManagerPrivate.cpp b/Engine/AppManagerPrivate.cpp
index e85d0f4ec2..c2990ed380 100644
--- a/Engine/AppManagerPrivate.cpp
+++ b/Engine/AppManagerPrivate.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ GCC_DIAG_ON(unused-parameter)
 #include "Global/GlobalDefines.h"
 #include "Global/GLIncludes.h"
 #include "Global/ProcInfo.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 #include "Engine/FStreamsSupport.h"
 #include "Engine/CacheSerialization.h"
@@ -903,7 +904,7 @@ AppManagerPrivate::handleCommandLineArgsW(int argc, wchar_t** argv)
     if (argv) {
         for (int i = 0; i < argc; ++i) {
             std::wstring ws(argv[i]);
-            utf8Args.push_back(Global::utf16_to_utf8(ws));
+            utf8Args.push_back(StrUtils::utf16_to_utf8(ws));
         }
     } else {
         // If the user didn't specify launch arguments (e.g unit testing),
diff --git a/Engine/CLArgs.cpp b/Engine/CLArgs.cpp
index 16bc03e8ba..e2071ce311 100644
--- a/Engine/CLArgs.cpp
+++ b/Engine/CLArgs.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 #include "Global/GlobalDefines.h"
 #include "Global/GitVersion.h"
 #include "Global/QtCompat.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
+
 #include "Engine/AppManager.h"
 
 NATRON_NAMESPACE_ENTER;
@@ -1152,7 +1154,7 @@ CLArgs::ensureCommandLineArgsUtf8(int argc, char **argv, std::vector<std::string
     wchar_t** argList = CommandLineToArgvW(GetCommandLineW(), &nArgsOut);
     for (int i = 0; i < nArgsOut; ++i) {
         std::wstring wide(argList[i]);
-        utf8Args->push_back(Global::utf16_to_utf8(wide));
+        utf8Args->push_back(StrUtils::utf16_to_utf8(wide));
         if (argv) {
             std::cout << "Non UTF-8 arg: " <<  argv[i] << std::endl;
         }
diff --git a/Engine/Cache.h b/Engine/Cache.h
index 9fb1c2c019..0f043ce801 100644
--- a/Engine/Cache.h
+++ b/Engine/Cache.h
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 
 #include "Global/GlobalDefines.h"
 #include "Global/MemoryInfo.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 GCC_DIAG_OFF(deprecated)
 #include <QtCore/QMutex>
@@ -1397,7 +1398,7 @@ class Cache
     QString getCachePath() const OVERRIDE FINAL WARN_UNUSED_RETURN
     {
         QString cacheFolderName( appPTR->getDiskCacheLocation() );
-        Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(cacheFolderName);
+        StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(cacheFolderName);
 
         cacheFolderName.append( QString::fromUtf8( cacheName().c_str() ) );
 
@@ -1407,7 +1408,7 @@ class Cache
     std::string getRestoreFilePath() const
     {
         QString newCachePath( getCachePath() );
-        Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(newCachePath);
+        StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(newCachePath);
 
         newCachePath.append( QString::fromUtf8("restoreFile." NATRON_CACHE_FILE_EXT) );
 
diff --git a/Engine/CacheEntry.h b/Engine/CacheEntry.h
index 55b8ef9e6f..d8638687af 100644
--- a/Engine/CacheEntry.h
+++ b/Engine/CacheEntry.h
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 #include <SequenceParsing.h> // for removePath
 #include "Engine/EngineFwd.h"
 #include "Global/GlobalDefines.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 NATRON_NAMESPACE_ENTER;
 
@@ -282,7 +283,7 @@ class CacheAPI
     {
 #ifdef _WIN32
         WIN32_FIND_DATAW FindFileData;
-        std::wstring wpath = Global::utf8_to_utf16 (filename);
+        std::wstring wpath = StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16 (filename);
         HANDLE handle = FindFirstFileW(wpath.c_str(), &FindFileData);
         if (handle != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
             FindClose(handle);
diff --git a/Engine/Engine.pro b/Engine/Engine.pro
index 6c2f296fa2..a67b043b7d 100644
--- a/Engine/Engine.pro
+++ b/Engine/Engine.pro
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ SOURCES += \
     WriteNode.cpp \
     ../Global/glad_source.c \
     ../Global/ProcInfo.cpp \
+    ../Global/StrUtils.cpp \
     ../libs/SequenceParsing/SequenceParsing.cpp \
     NatronEngine/natronengine_module_wrapper.cpp \
     NatronEngine/natron_namespace_wrapper.cpp \
@@ -443,6 +444,7 @@ HEADERS += \
     ../Global/MemoryInfo.h \
     ../Global/ProcInfo.h \
     ../Global/QtCompat.h \
+    ../Global/StrUtils.h \
     ../libs/SequenceParsing/SequenceParsing.h \
     ../libs/OpenFX/include/ofxCore.h \
     ../libs/OpenFX/include/ofxDialog.h \
diff --git a/Engine/FStreamsSupport.cpp b/Engine/FStreamsSupport.cpp
index 47a1110b08..282b62a1c2 100644
--- a/Engine/FStreamsSupport.cpp
+++ b/Engine/FStreamsSupport.cpp
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 // ***** END PYTHON BLOCK ****
 
 #include "FStreamsSupport.h"
-
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 NATRON_NAMESPACE_ENTER;
 
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ FStreamsSupport::open (FStreamsSupport::ifstream *stream,
 #ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
     // Windows std::ifstream accepts non-standard wchar_t*
     // On MingW, we use our own FStreamsSupport::ifstream
-    std::wstring wpath = Global::utf8_to_utf16(path);
+    std::wstring wpath = StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16(path);
     stream->open (wpath.c_str(), mode);
     stream->seekg (0, std::ios_base::beg); // force seek, otherwise broken
 #else
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ FStreamsSupport::open (FStreamsSupport::ofstream *stream,
 #ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
     // Windows std::ofstream accepts non-standard wchar_t*
     // On MingW, we use our own FStreamsSupport::ofstream
-    std::wstring wpath = Global::utf8_to_utf16(path);
+    std::wstring wpath = StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16(path);
     stream->open (wpath.c_str(), mode);
 #else
     stream->open (path.c_str(), mode);
diff --git a/Engine/LibraryBinary.cpp b/Engine/LibraryBinary.cpp
index 13c10e0a54..07e27ef409 100644
--- a/Engine/LibraryBinary.cpp
+++ b/Engine/LibraryBinary.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 
 #include "Global/GlobalDefines.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
+
 #ifdef __NATRON_UNIX__
 #include <dlfcn.h>
 #endif
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@ LibraryBinary::loadBinary(const std::string & binaryPath)
 
     _binaryPath = binaryPath;
 #ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
-    std::wstring ws = Global::utf8_to_utf16(binaryPath);
+    std::wstring ws = StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16(binaryPath);
     _library = LoadLibraryW( ws.c_str() );
 
 #elif defined(__NATRON_UNIX__)
diff --git a/Engine/MemoryFile.cpp b/Engine/MemoryFile.cpp
index 5ee878ffbb..cef1dfbe73 100644
--- a/Engine/MemoryFile.cpp
+++ b/Engine/MemoryFile.cpp
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 
 #include "Global/GlobalDefines.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 #define MIN_FILE_SIZE 4096
 
@@ -230,13 +231,13 @@ MemoryFilePrivate::openInternal(MemoryFile::FileOpenModeEnum open_mode)
        - R/W
      ********************************************************
      *********************************************************/
-    std::wstring wpath = Global::utf8_to_utf16(path);
+    std::wstring wpath = StrUtils::utf8_to_utf16(path);
     file_handle = ::CreateFileW(wpath.c_str(), GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,
                                 0, 0, windows_open_mode, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0);
 
 
     if (file_handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
-        std::string winError = Global::GetLastErrorAsString();
+        std::string winError = StrUtils::GetLastErrorAsString();
         std::string str("MemoryFile EXC : Failed to open file ");
         str.append(path);
         str.append(winError);
diff --git a/Engine/Project.cpp b/Engine/Project.cpp
index 9abdac618d..e835019a61 100644
--- a/Engine/Project.cpp
+++ b/Engine/Project.cpp
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ GCC_DIAG_UNUSED_LOCAL_TYPEDEFS_ON
 #endif
 #include <ofxhXml.h> // OFX::XML::escape
 
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
+
 #include "Engine/AppInstance.h"
 #include "Engine/AppManager.h"
 #include "Engine/CreateNodeArgs.h"
@@ -191,7 +193,7 @@ Project::loadProject(const QString & path,
 
     try {
         QString realPath = path;
-        Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(realPath);
+        StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(realPath);
         QString realName = name;
         bool isAutoSave = isUntitledAutosave;
         if (!getApp()->isBackground() && !isUntitledAutosave) {
@@ -518,7 +520,7 @@ Project::saveProjectInternal(const QString & path,
 
     ///Use a temporary file to save, so if Natron crashes it doesn't corrupt the user save.
     QString tmpFilename = StandardPaths::writableLocation(StandardPaths::eStandardLocationTemp);
-    Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(tmpFilename);
+    StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(tmpFilename);
     tmpFilename.append( QString::number( time.toMSecsSinceEpoch() ) );
 
     {
@@ -1667,7 +1669,7 @@ Project::getLockFileInfos(const QString& projectPath,
                           qint64* appPID) const
 {
     QString realPath = projectPath;
-    Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(realPath);
+    StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(realPath);
     QString lockFilePath = realPath + projectName + QString::fromUtf8(".lock");
     QFile f(lockFilePath);
 
@@ -1719,7 +1721,7 @@ Project::removeLastAutosave()
      */
     QString projectPath = QString::fromUtf8( _imp->getProjectPath().c_str() );
     QString projectFilename = QString::fromUtf8( _imp->getProjectFilename().c_str() );
-    Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(projectPath);
+    StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(projectPath);
     QString autoSaveFilePath = projectPath + projectFilename + QString::fromUtf8(".autosave");
     if ( QFile::exists(autoSaveFilePath) ) {
         QFile::remove(autoSaveFilePath);
@@ -1759,7 +1761,7 @@ QString
 Project::autoSavesDir()
 {
     QString str = StandardPaths::writableLocation(StandardPaths::eStandardLocationData);
-    Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(str);
+    StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(str);
 
     str += QString::fromUtf8("Autosaves");
 
diff --git a/Engine/Settings.cpp b/Engine/Settings.cpp
index dba780e997..d088c8a671 100644
--- a/Engine/Settings.cpp
+++ b/Engine/Settings.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #include "Global/MemoryInfo.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 #include "Engine/AppManager.h"
 #include "Engine/AppInstance.h"
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ static QStringList
 getDefaultOcioConfigPaths()
 {
     QString binaryPath = appPTR->getApplicationBinaryPath();
-    Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(binaryPath);
+    StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(binaryPath);
 
 #ifdef __NATRON_LINUX__
     QStringList ret;
diff --git a/Global/GlobalDefines.h b/Global/GlobalDefines.h
index 8f3e2eb34e..99ef6b85be 100644
--- a/Global/GlobalDefines.h
+++ b/Global/GlobalDefines.h
@@ -158,108 +158,6 @@ typedef OfxRangeD RangeD;
 
 #define NATRON_PY_VERSION_STRING PY_VERSION_STRINGIZE(PY_MAJOR_VERSION, PY_MINOR_VERSION)
 
-
-namespace Global {
-/*Converts a std::string to wide string*/
-inline std::wstring
-utf8_to_utf16(const std::string & s)
-{
-#ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
-    std::wstring native;
-
-
-    native.resize(MultiByteToWideChar (CP_UTF8, 0, s.c_str(), -1, NULL, 0) - 1);
-    MultiByteToWideChar ( CP_UTF8, 0, s.c_str(), s.size(), &native[0], (int)native.size() );
-
-    return native;
-
-#else
-    std::wstring dest;
-    size_t max = s.size() * 4;
-    mbtowc (NULL, NULL, max);  /* reset mbtowc */
-
-    const char* cstr = s.c_str();
-
-    while (max > 0) {
-        wchar_t w;
-        size_t length = mbtowc(&w, cstr, max);
-        if (length < 1) {
-            break;
-        }
-        dest.push_back(w);
-        cstr += length;
-        max -= length;
-    }
-
-    return dest;
-#endif
-} // utf8_to_utf16
-
-inline std::string
-utf16_to_utf8 (const std::wstring& str)
-{
-#ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
-    std::string utf8;
-
-    utf8.resize(WideCharToMultiByte (CP_UTF8, 0, str.data(), str.length(), NULL, 0, NULL, NULL));
-    WideCharToMultiByte (CP_UTF8, 0, str.data(), str.length(), &utf8[0], (int)utf8.size(), NULL, NULL);
-
-    return utf8;
-#else
-    std::string utf8;
-    for (std::size_t i = 0; i < str.size(); ++i) {
-        char c[MB_LEN_MAX];
-        int nbBytes = wctomb(c, str[i]);
-        if (nbBytes > 0) {
-            for (int j = 0; j < nbBytes; ++j) {
-                utf8.push_back(c[j]);
-            }
-        } else {
-            break;
-        }
-    }
-    return utf8;
-#endif
-} // utf16_to_utf8
-
-#ifdef __NATRON_WIN32__
-
-
-//Returns the last Win32 error, in string format. Returns an empty string if there is no error.
-inline
-std::string
-GetLastErrorAsString()
-{
-    //Get the error message, if any.
-    DWORD errorMessageID = ::GetLastError();
-
-    if (errorMessageID == 0) {
-        return std::string(); //No error message has been recorded
-    }
-    LPSTR messageBuffer = 0;
-    size_t size = FormatMessageA(FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS,
-                                 NULL, errorMessageID, MAKELANGID(LANG_NEUTRAL, SUBLANG_DEFAULT), (LPSTR)&messageBuffer, 0, NULL);
-    std::string message(messageBuffer, size);
-
-    //Free the buffer.
-    LocalFree(messageBuffer);
-
-    return message;
-} // GetLastErrorAsString
-
-#endif // __NATRON_WIN32__
-
-inline void
-ensureLastPathSeparator(QString& path)
-{
-    static const QChar separator( QLatin1Char('/') );
-
-    if ( !path.endsWith(separator) ) {
-        path += separator;
-    }
-}
-} // namespace Global
-
 NATRON_NAMESPACE_EXIT;
 
 Q_DECLARE_METATYPE(NATRON_NAMESPACE::SequenceTime)
diff --git a/Gui/Gui.cpp b/Gui/Gui.cpp
index fb3e5ecabd..f4415d59de 100644
--- a/Gui/Gui.cpp
+++ b/Gui/Gui.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ GCC_DIAG_UNUSED_PRIVATE_FIELD_ON
 #include "Engine/ViewerInstance.h"
 #include "Engine/Settings.h"
 
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
+
 #include "Gui/ActionShortcuts.h"
 #include "Gui/CurveEditor.h"
 #include "Gui/DopeSheetEditor.h"
@@ -174,7 +176,7 @@ Gui::reloadProject()
     }
     QString filename = proj->getProjectFilename();
     QString projectPath = proj->getProjectPath();
-    Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(projectPath);
+    StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(projectPath);
 
     projectPath.append(filename);
 
diff --git a/Gui/GuiAppInstance.cpp b/Gui/GuiAppInstance.cpp
index f61cad3eee..f53b0d2931 100644
--- a/Gui/GuiAppInstance.cpp
+++ b/Gui/GuiAppInstance.cpp
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 #include "Engine/ViewerInstance.h"
 
 #include "Global/QtCompat.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
 
 #include "Gui/GuiApplicationManager.h"
 #include "Gui/Gui.h"
@@ -377,7 +378,7 @@ GuiAppInstance::loadInternal(const CLArgs& cl,
             ///Otherwise just load the project specified.
             QString name = info.fileName();
             QString path = info.path();
-            Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(path);
+            StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(path);
             appPTR->setLoadingStatus(tr("Loading project: ") + path + name);
             getProject()->loadProject(path, name);
             ///remove any file open event that might have occured
diff --git a/Gui/SequenceFileDialog.cpp b/Gui/SequenceFileDialog.cpp
index b27cbf014c..5683c22950 100644
--- a/Gui/SequenceFileDialog.cpp
+++ b/Gui/SequenceFileDialog.cpp
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ CLANG_DIAG_ON(uninitialized)
 
 #include "Global/QtCompat.h"
 #include "Global/MemoryInfo.h"
+#include "Global/StrUtils.h"
+
 #include "Gui/GuiDefines.h"
 
 #include "Engine/CreateNodeArgs.h"
@@ -1416,7 +1418,7 @@ SequenceFileDialog::createDir()
         if ( !newFolderString.isEmpty() ) {
             QString folderName = newFolderString;
             QString prefix  = currentDirectory().absolutePath();
-            Global::ensureLastPathSeparator(prefix);
+            StrUtils::ensureLastPathSeparator(prefix);
             if ( QFile::exists(prefix + folderName) ) {
                 qlonglong suffix = 2;
                 while ( QFile::exists(prefix + folderName) ) {
diff --git a/Renderer/NatronRenderer_main.cpp b/Renderer/NatronRenderer_main.cpp
index e2baab5511..9a6fe00d24 100644
--- a/Renderer/NatronRenderer_main.cpp
+++ b/Renderer/NatronRenderer_main.cpp
@@ -90,7 +90,11 @@ extern "C" {
     AppManager manager;
 
     // coverity[tainted_data]
-    if ( !manager.load(argc, argv, args) ) {
+#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
+        if ( !manager.loadW(argc, argv, args) ) {
+#else
+        if ( !manager.load(argc, argv, args) ) {
+#endif
         return 1;
     } else {
         return 0;
diff --git a/Tests/Tests.pro b/Tests/Tests.pro
index 2d897a5754..d113ca37e9 100644
--- a/Tests/Tests.pro
+++ b/Tests/Tests.pro
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ SOURCES += \
     Lut_Test.cpp \
     KnobFile_Test.cpp \
     Curve_Test.cpp \
-    Tracker_Test.cpp
+    Tracker_Test.cpp \
+    wmain.cpp
 
 HEADERS += \
     BaseTest.h