Yes use shape collision. http://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.8/class_shapefile.html#ae0c2b5b354f003d50bca9efbe82ee08e the documentation says its for labels but I think that may be a misnomer. Labels have something else http://www.mapwindow.org/documentation/mapwingis4.8/group__labels__visibility.html#ga45a0ade2551e6e91df8183b8f875dda4
I like you assumed this was on by default but its actually off by default, meaning collisions are avoided by default.
AGP
I like you assumed this was on by default but its actually off by default, meaning collisions are avoided by default.
AGP