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