To hell with DLLs.

OK, that's a bit strong, and I don't really mean it. But DLLs (dynamic link libraries), important devils that they are, can also be big troublemakers. This is especially so if you're one of the millions stuck with using the operating system often styled by its ruder critics as "Windoze 95."

DLLs perform a variety of required tasks, including sharing resources or functions between Windows applications. If you've downloaded much shareware, for example, you've probably noted the frequent requirement that you have installed vbrun3.dll, which enables Visual Basic programs. Another common example is winsock.dll, required for Windows Internet connections.

The problem is that when you install a new Windows program it can, and often does, overwrite files shared by other applications, including DLLs. When you encounter one of the not infrequent crashes exemplified by messages suggesting that your application has performed an "illegal" operation, this may be a factor. The new application may use an older DLL version, which it has written over a newer one. When another program tries to perform a function that doesn't work in the older DLL …. Well, as Ronald Reagan might say, there you go again.

Brian Livingston (the Maimonides of Windows, author of the excellent guide for the perplexed Windows user, "Windows 95 Secrets") has written extensively in InfoWorld about the difficulties he's encountered with DLL conflicts. Among the programs Livingston cites as behaving badly by installing older DLLs are several of Microsoft's own prime applications.

He and other experts have passed on their suggested fixes to Microsoft, who apparently is aware of, and has a fix for this behavior. It is unclear if they will include it in the next version of Windows.

If you've followed the court case between the DOJ and Microsoft, you may have noted MS's claims that DLLs installed by their Internet Explorer (IE) are required for Windows to operate at all. What MS did not discuss in court is that they have also persuaded several software developers, such as Intuit (makers of Quicken and QuickBooks), AOL and CompuServe, to require their customers to use IE in order to implement all the features of their current products.

But many of these products install an older version of IE, which may make their programs unstable at best, unusable at worst. Before installing an older version of IE, you must 1st uninstall IE 4. This arrogance by popular companies such as Intuit, deciding for thousands of Quicken customers that they don't want to use Netscape anymore, is just another symptom of the infection of the marketplace spread by Microsoft.

My solution for users of these programs? Just say no. And let the developers know why.

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