The Complete Guide to C++ Strings, Part I - Win32 Character Encodings
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/string/cppstringguide1.aspx
The Complete Guide to C++ Strings, Part II - String Wrapper Classes
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/string/cppstringguide2.aspx?target=convert%7Cchar%7Clpcwstr