MASM SDK itself use various tools from VS (including the assembler "ml.exe"). What makes is more useful are various macros/functions bundled in MASM32lib which

MASM SDK itself use various tools from VS (including the assembler "ml.exe"). What makes is more useful are various macros/functions bundled in MASM32lib which makes programming Windows in assembly easier (this lib are still regularely updated). If you don't like MS assembler, the good thing is you can use open source ML-compatible assemblers like: - https://github.com/JWasm/JWasm https://github.com/JWasm/JWasm - https://github.com/nidud/asmc https://github.com/nidud/asmc - https://github.com/Terraspace/UASM https://github.com/Terraspace/UASM