Reminds me of the grief I got when I asked about "professional engineers" (the name of a licence in the US amongst other things). Then again, I did spell it right!
Anyhow, landing with power in strong crosswinds allows a shallower approach angle, and since near the ground the wind gradient is quite strong, this means a smaller crab angle / wing-down angle (depending upon preferred or recommended crosswind approach method) and thus a generally less hard work crosswind landing.
In a strong headwind, for the same reasons, it'll generally mean a quicker approach since you'll be getting out of the strongest wind components earlier in the final approach.
A further advantage is that in piston-prop aircraft the wash over the tail and wing centre section, combined with alteration of the forces on the aircraft tends to reduce the stalling speed, and thus gives you a (slightly) larger safety margin against inadvertent gust-induced stall on finals. (Although the flip-side of that is that if you do inadvertently stall it, there's a greater risk of wing-drop and spin with power selected.)
The above only really applies to piston-prop aircraft; jets and turboprops are really only designed and scheduled to be landed with power in a near 3° approach angle and so it's really a null question since landing at idle is generally an emergency procedure only on those. But you did ask about a C172.
G