**Some Background -** 

I have written a C program on the TS-7800 (running Debian Linux) which I access through Putty. The program is essentially in charge of controlling DAC/ADC's in order to modify the state of a memory element. 

My next task is to develop a GUI for that program. The GUI is built using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 in C++. I've made most of the GUI and simply need a way to send the data which I collect to the Linux machine. 

My first attempt was to invoke a connection with Putty through command line from the GUI, and then try to send various commands through that Putty connection. The drawback here is that once I invoke a connection with Putty using the command putty username@192.168.1.50, it is done in the foreground, rather then hidden in the background, and I don't know how to continue entering text/commands from the GUI into Putty once it has been launched.

**My Question -** 

How should I go about connecting my GUI on Windows to the program on the Linux machine? Is my attempt with Putty a step in the right direction, or should I be taking a different approach - possibly Cygwin?

Thank you in advance for any help - this is my first post on stackoverflow so please forgive me if I've mistakenly overlooked some detail or if I did not abide by proper etiquette.