Typically, declaring a string as a static const helps direct the compiler in optimizing how the string literal is stored.  In the past, #define literals might be duplicated more than once in the compiled binary.  As a result, using a static const would help save on, at the very least, file size.  To your TCHAR point, that data type will be compiled as WCHAR since we're compiling with the UNICODE flags.  Still, since this string is only used twice, it doesn't really matter much either way it's written, so I'm happy making the requested change.