Target most Windows versions for a 2D game?

If one were to code a game for most versions of Windows, which API should be used?

I know DirectDraw works from NT4 and up (although DirectDraw is emulated on NT4 with GDI). However, I am told DirectDraw is deprecated in newer versions of Windows?

I could revert to just GDI, but then it is hard to completely elimin开发者_JAVA技巧ate flicker and tearing, since there is no double buffering with flipping between buffers.

Should I go for Direct3D or DirectDraw? Or is there some way of completely eliminating flicker in GDI?

If Direct3D is the answer, which version of it is supported on most platforms?

Unless you are sure you will never want to port your game to any non-Windows platform, I would recommend OpenGL. It should work on all versions from 2000 upwards, and some lucky NT4 or Win98 users may be able to run it (but don't advertise those versions as "supported.") Hardware acceleration won't always work, but the impact on performance won't be noticeable for a simple 2D game. And you will be able to port it reasonably cheaply to other platforms (e.g. iPhone) if necessary.