diff --git a/eo/src/do/make_pop.h b/eo/src/do/make_pop.h
index d8ae0766..52892be1 100644
--- a/eo/src/do/make_pop.h
+++ b/eo/src/do/make_pop.h
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #ifndef _make_pop_h
 #define _make_pop_h
 
-#include <sys/time.h>		   // for time(0) for random seeding
+#include <ctime>  // for time(0) for random seeding
 #include <eoPop.h>
 #include <eoInit.h>
 #include <utils/eoRNG.h>
diff --git a/eo/src/eoDistribUpdater.h b/eo/src/eoDistribUpdater.h
index 88f6d24b..1749994f 100644
--- a/eo/src/eoDistribUpdater.h
+++ b/eo/src/eoDistribUpdater.h
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@
 template <class EOT>
 class eoDistribUpdater :  
   public eoBF<eoDistribution<EOT> &, eoPop<EOT> &, void>
-{};
+{
+public:
+  virtual void operator()(eoDistribution<EOT> &, eoPop<EOT> &)=0;
+};
 
 #endif
diff --git a/eo/src/eoSelectOne.h b/eo/src/eoSelectOne.h
index 29857034..34b0782f 100644
--- a/eo/src/eoSelectOne.h
+++ b/eo/src/eoSelectOne.h
@@ -37,7 +37,11 @@
 
       @see eoSelectMany, eoSelectRandom, eoDetTournament, eoStochTournament, eoProportional
 */
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+template<class EOT, class WorthT = EOT::Fitness>
+#else
 template<class EOT, class WorthT = typename EOT::Fitness>
+#endif
 class eoSelectOne : public eoUF<const eoPop<EOT>&, const EOT&>
 {
     public :
diff --git a/eo/src/es/eoEsChromInit.h b/eo/src/es/eoEsChromInit.h
index 39939740..9e80679a 100644
--- a/eo/src/es/eoEsChromInit.h
+++ b/eo/src/es/eoEsChromInit.h
@@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ private :
   // Adaptive mutation through a whole correlation matrix
   void create_self_adapt(eoEsFull<FitT>& result)
   {
-    unsigned theSize = eoRealInitBounded<EOT>::size();
+    unsigned i, theSize = eoRealInitBounded<EOT>::size();
 
     result.stdevs.resize(theSize);
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < theSize; ++i)
+    for (i = 0; i < theSize; ++i)
       {
 	// should we scale sigmas to the corresponding object variable range?
 	result.stdevs[i] = sigma;
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ private :
         
     // nb of rotation angles: N*(N-1)/2 (in general!)
     result.correlations.resize(theSize*(theSize - 1) / 2);
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < result.correlations.size(); ++i)
+    for (i = 0; i < result.correlations.size(); ++i)
       {
 	// uniform in [-PI, PI)
 	result.correlations[i] = rng.uniform(2 * M_PI) - M_PI;
diff --git a/eo/src/ga/eoPBILAdditive.h b/eo/src/ga/eoPBILAdditive.h
index 577c2328..9f32859b 100644
--- a/eo/src/ga/eoPBILAdditive.h
+++ b/eo/src/ga/eoPBILAdditive.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // -*- mode: c++; c-indent-level: 4; c++-member-init-indent: 8; comment-column: 35; -*-
 
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// eoPBILDistrib.h
+// eoPBILAdditive.h
 // (c) Marc Schoenauer, Maarten Keijzer, 2001
 /* 
     This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
diff --git a/eo/src/ga/eoPBILDistrib.h b/eo/src/ga/eoPBILDistrib.h
index 9d0558d0..96a781bc 100644
--- a/eo/src/ga/eoPBILDistrib.h
+++ b/eo/src/ga/eoPBILDistrib.h
@@ -61,9 +61,6 @@ public:
     _eo.invalidate();		   // DO NOT FORGET!!!
   }
 
-  /** update method - still PURE VIRTUAL */
-  //  virtual void update(eoPop<EOT>&) = 0; // update from a population
-
   /** Accessor to the genome size */
   unsigned Size() {return genomeSize;}
 
diff --git a/eo/src/ga/eoPBILOrg.h b/eo/src/ga/eoPBILOrg.h
index d4cf8c05..da949064 100644
--- a/eo/src/ga/eoPBILOrg.h
+++ b/eo/src/ga/eoPBILOrg.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // -*- mode: c++; c-indent-level: 4; c++-member-init-indent: 8; comment-column: 35; -*-
 
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// eoPBILDistrib.h
+// eoPBILOrg.h
 // (c) Marc Schoenauer, Maarten Keijzer, 2001
 /* 
     This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 
 /**
  * Distribution Class for PBIL algorithm 
- *      (Population-Based Incremental Learning, Baluja and Caruana 96)
+ *      (Population-Based Incremental Learning, Baluja and Caruana 95)
  *
  * This class implements the update rule from the original paper:
  *
diff --git a/eo/src/ga/make_PBILdistrib.h b/eo/src/ga/make_PBILdistrib.h
index c662b9c0..2698cc34 100644
--- a/eo/src/ga/make_PBILdistrib.h
+++ b/eo/src/ga/make_PBILdistrib.h
@@ -53,10 +53,22 @@ eoPBILDistrib<EOT> &  do_make_PBILdistrib(eoParser & _parser, eoState& _state, E
     if (seedParam.value() == 0)
 	seedParam.value() = time(0);
 
-    // the representation dependent stuff
-    unsigned chromSize = _parser.createParam(unsigned(10), "chromSize", "The length of the bitstrings", 'n',"Algorithm").value();
-
-    eoPBILDistrib<EOT> * ptDistrib = new eoPBILDistrib<EOT>(chromSize);
+    // chromosome size: 
+    unsigned theSize;
+    // but it might have been already read in the definition fo the performance
+    eoParam* ptParam = _parser.getParamWithLongName(string("chromSize")); 
+    
+    if (!ptParam)			   // not already defined: read it here
+      {
+	theSize = _parser.createParam(unsigned(10), "chromSize", "The length of the bitstrings", 'n',"Problem").value();
+      }
+    else				   // it was read before, get its value
+      {
+	eoValueParam<unsigned>* ptChromSize = dynamic_cast<eoValueParam<unsigned>*>(ptParam);
+	theSize = ptChromSize->value();
+      }
+    
+    eoPBILDistrib<EOT> * ptDistrib = new eoPBILDistrib<EOT>(theSize);
     _state.storeFunctor(ptDistrib);
 
     // now the initialization: read a previously saved distribution, or random
diff --git a/eo/src/ga/make_genotype_ga.h b/eo/src/ga/make_genotype_ga.h
index 16cef294..f162328b 100644
--- a/eo/src/ga/make_genotype_ga.h
+++ b/eo/src/ga/make_genotype_ga.h
@@ -63,11 +63,11 @@ eoInit<EOT> & do_make_genotype(eoParser& _parser, eoState& _state, EOT)
   // for bitstring, only thing needed is the size
   unsigned theSize;
   // but it might have been already read in the definition fo the performance
-  eoParam* ptParam = _parser.getParamWithLongName(string("ChromSize")); 
+  eoParam* ptParam = _parser.getParamWithLongName(string("chromSize")); 
 
   if (!ptParam)			   // not already defined: read it here
     {
-      theSize = _parser.createParam(unsigned(10), "ChromSize", "The length of the bitstrings", 'n',"Problem").value();
+      theSize = _parser.createParam(unsigned(10), "chromSize", "The length of the bitstrings", 'n',"Problem").value();
     }
   else				   // it was read before, get its value
     {
diff --git a/eo/src/utils/eoParam.h b/eo/src/utils/eoParam.h
index 47e68027..c991b3a7 100644
--- a/eo/src/utils/eoParam.h
+++ b/eo/src/utils/eoParam.h
@@ -239,16 +239,16 @@ template <>
 void eoValueParam<std::vector<std::vector<double> > >::setValue(std::string _value)
 {
     std::istrstream is(_value.c_str());
-    unsigned sz;
+    unsigned i,j,sz;
     is >> sz;
     repValue.resize(sz);
 
-    for (unsigned i = 0; i < repValue.size(); ++i)
+    for (i = 0; i < repValue.size(); ++i)
     {
       unsigned sz2;
       is >> sz2;
       repValue[i].resize(sz2);
-      for (unsigned j = 0; j < sz2; ++j)
+      for (j = 0; j < sz2; ++j)
       {
         is >> repValue[i][j];
       }
diff --git a/eo/src/utils/eoStat.h b/eo/src/utils/eoStat.h
index 5877ab54..71d6d575 100644
--- a/eo/src/utils/eoStat.h
+++ b/eo/src/utils/eoStat.h
@@ -82,8 +82,12 @@ public :
     Average fitness of a population, fitness can be a double, eoMinimizingFitness, eoMaximizingFitness or eoParetoFitness.
     In the case of pareto optimization it will calculate the average of each objective.
 */
-template <class EOT>
-class eoAverageStat : public eoStat<EOT, typename EOT::Fitness>
+
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+template <class EOT> class eoAverageStat : public eoStat<EOT, EOT::Fitness>
+#else
+template <class EOT> class eoAverageStat : public eoStat<EOT, typename EOT::Fitness>
+#endif
 {
 public :
     typedef typename EOT::Fitness fitness_type;
@@ -99,7 +103,11 @@ public :
 
     virtual void operator()(const eoPop<EOT>& _pop)
     {
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+        doit(_pop, EOT::Fitness()); // specializations for scalar and vector
+#else
         doit(_pop, typename EOT::Fitness()); // specializations for scalar and vector
+#endif
     }
 private :
 
@@ -248,17 +256,22 @@ public :
 /**
     Best fitness in the population
 */
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+template <class EOT>
+class eoBestFitnessStat : public eoStat<EOT, EOT::Fitness>
+#else
 template <class EOT>
 class eoBestFitnessStat : public eoStat<EOT, typename EOT::Fitness>
+#endif
 {
 public :
     typedef typename EOT::Fitness Fitness;
 
-    eoBestFitnessStat(std::string _description = "Best ") : eoStat<EOT, typename EOT::Fitness>(typename EOT::Fitness(), _description) {}
+    eoBestFitnessStat(std::string _description = "Best ") : eoStat<EOT, Fitness>(Fitness(), _description) {}
 
     void operator()(const eoPop<EOT>& _pop)
     {
-      doit(_pop, typename EOT::Fitness());
+      doit(_pop, Fitness());
     }
 
 private :
diff --git a/eo/test/t-eoESAll.cpp b/eo/test/t-eoESAll.cpp
index 7afa2aef..cd6436e7 100644
--- a/eo/test/t-eoESAll.cpp
+++ b/eo/test/t-eoESAll.cpp
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ void runAlgorithm(EOT, eoParser& _parser, eoState& _state)
   // initialize the population - and evaluate
   // yes, this is representation indepedent once you have an eoInit
   eoPop<EOT>& pop   = make_pop(_parser, _state, init);
-  apply(eval, pop);
+  apply<EOT>(eval, pop);
 
   // stopping criteria
   eoContinue<EOT> & term = make_continue(_parser, _state, eval);
diff --git a/eo/test/t-eoGA.cpp b/eo/test/t-eoGA.cpp
index 9fa1fd66..31a22ae3 100644
--- a/eo/test/t-eoGA.cpp
+++ b/eo/test/t-eoGA.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
   //// GO
   ///////
   // evaluate intial population AFTER help and status in case it takes time
-  apply(eval, pop);
+  apply<EOT>(eval, pop);
   // print it out
   cout << "Initial Population\n";
   pop.sortedPrintOn(cout);
diff --git a/eo/test/t-eoReal.cpp b/eo/test/t-eoReal.cpp
index 09e7ced5..8002136c 100644
--- a/eo/test/t-eoReal.cpp
+++ b/eo/test/t-eoReal.cpp
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
   //// GO
   ///////
   // evaluate intial population AFTER help and status in case it takes time
-  apply(eval, pop);
+  apply<EOT>(eval, pop);
   // print it out
   cout << "Initial Population\n";
   pop.sortedPrintOn(cout);