There's legions of programmers out there using Windows. Just because they choose to operate on a MS OS/stack doesn't mean they're not worth targeting or reaching out to. Beyond just this fact, you need to think about the future - when you were young, how did you get started programming?

Javascript is spreading to more and more devices, and being the main language of the web browser environment doesn't hurt this. I'd wager it definitely doesn't hurt to be able to install Node on a Windows machine if you're a new programmer and want to get into programming.

"when you were young, how did you get started programming?"

By installing a linux distro.

Pah. Youngsters today don't know they're born.

We only had a BBC Micro to cut out programming teeth on, but we were 'appy...

I run coffeescript on my windows machines from time to time. Why not?

I don't use node on Windows personally, but a review of the mailing list shows there's certainly a demand, a lot of chatter, especially directly after releases.

Ryan seems to recognize Windows support is something a non-trivial portion of the community want, and is responding appropriately.

btw, Ryan briefly mentions node on Windows in this talk at about the 1:00 mark, and replies "Windows is very important" to an audience member: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo_B4LTHi3I

While perhaps not a common use case, one thing I'm interested in exploring is building cross-platform "desktop" applications using Node, either command line utilities or GUI apps served locally to the user's browser.

Sounds like Java.

Nope, they'd just be web apps. More like Adobe Air or Titanium.

I also can't figure this out? But... It's his project, and perhaps there's some pressure from his employer?

Node.js on the developer desktop, yes, running Windows.