Hello Matt:

I decided to use libcurl. The primary reason is that I need complete
control over the UI, especially for proxy authentication. Also, since
libcurl is open source, I can examine the source if I have any questions
about how it works; I can also modify it if needed, though I haven't had
to do so yet. Another reason is that I'm using Python, and pycurl is
much more complete than PyWin32's binding for WinInet.

I already have some Python code for getting proxy settings from the
Windows registry. An alternative which I'm considering is to get proxy
settings from WinInet itself, by opening a WinInet session and using the
InternetQueryOption function. That would add more overhead, but I
wonder if it would have any benefits, such as the ability to use
WinInet's proxy auto config support. Does anyone know?

Yes, OpenSSL is rather large. My package already includes OpenSSL (for
a non-HTTP protocol), but out of curiosity, can libcurl be built with
either of the other two SSL libraries under Windows?

-- 
Matt Campbell
Lead Programmer
Serotek Corporation
www.freedombox.info
"The Accessibility Anywhere People"