Has anybody else thought of using DLLs (like ReactOS' dlls) as a
compatibility
layer to different Windows versions?
I.e. when you distribute your Windows app, you also throw in a bunch of DLLs
that implement lots of functionality you aren't sure exists on your
target otherwise.
(Windows 2003 functionality on Windows XP, 2000 and NT for instance.)
It would be a way to avoid upgrading Windows. This would be good for
developers,
users and the Open Source community. The longer it takes for Microsoft
to shove
out a new version of their OS, the more time Open Source has to
infiltrate. :-)
I first had the idea when a program of mine refused to run on Windows 95
when it was compiled with Visual C++ .NET. It "needed" some XP functionality
in a DLL not present on Windows 95. Well, I created a dll with the same name
and distributed it with my program.
//Jakob