...it's actually a thin, thin, 16mm shell around the Windoze API, with some container things (I wouldn't dignify them by calling them "objects") thrown in for good (?) measure. All neatly packaged up and called an "obejct framework" by marketing droids who (along with their engineering counterparts) wouldn't know an object if it came up and (rightly) kicked any of them squarely in the ass.

Yes it does, of course, wrap the GUI aspects of Windoze. It claims to do so much more, however, and while there isn't a dime's worth of difference between using the MFC or the raw API counterparts (except the API doesn leak resources nearly as much) for graphics, there is a real need for containers in Windowz, so teaching the STL can generate a real transfer of knowledge.