You can compile the MySQL Windows source with Borland C++ 5.02. (The Windows source includes only projects for Microsoft VC++, for Borland C++ you have to do the project files yourself.)

One known problem with Borland C++ is that it uses a different structure alignment than VC++. This means that you run into problems if you try to use the default libmysql.dll libraries (that were compiled using VC++) with Borland C++. To avoid this problem, only call mysql_init() with NULL as an argument, not a pre-allocated MYSQL structure.