Cygwin symlinks native vs nativestrict

Native

export CYGWIN=winsymlinks:native

If you try to create a symlink to a non-existent file (there are reasons when that makes sense), ln creates a Cygwin (non-native) symlink.

Nativestrict

export CYGWIN=winsymlinks:nativestrict 

If you use nativestrict mode and attempt create a symlink to a non-existent file, ln returns an error and fails to create any kind of link.