Build setting profile under windows

[koahnig]

Can someone point me to an explanation of what is possible under windows with the "build setting" "profile" vesus the standard modes "release" and "debug"?

I think I have seen discussions on this in the forum a while ago. But neither "profile" nor "windows" are really narrowing terms for a search. What I have found in creator's documentation is rather self-explanatory than helpful.

I am wondering if the setting makes really sense under windows for C++ applications. Is there in the mean time a open source profiler for windows available?
AFAIK valgrind on windows effort had started but fall asleep, because too fast changes for other platforms.