July 14, 1998
Web posted at: 10:45 AM EDT
by Brian Livingston

(IDG) -- The setup routine for Microsoft's new Windows 98 operating system
deliberately disables files used by competitors' software and installs
different versions of those files for the use of Windows 98.

Windows 98 includes a new utility, the Version Conflict Manager, or VCM,
to keep track of the disabled files and provide a way for users to switch
the files back. But the Win98 setup routine does not provide any notice to
users that the files are being changed or that the Version Conflict
Manager is available if a competitors' software no longer operates
properly.

The changed files are DLLs -- small support programs that are shared by
several applications -- as well as other shared files. If the Windows 98
setup routine detects that a competitors' program has installed a newer
shared file than the version that comes with Windows 98, the setup routine
moves the file to a new location, thereby disabling it. Win98 then
installs an older version of the same file into the proper location. The
application that depended on the newer version of that file may no longer
work properly, or it may no longer work at all.

Microsoft product manager Shawn Sanford stated in an e-mail exchange, "We
wanted to be assured of a known, working baseline operating system when we
were done with installation."  This practice, however, places competitors
who rely on the newer files at a severe disadvantage.

Competitors' applications may no longer work, but users would have
received no notice of the change.

In one test machine, the Windows 98 setup routine disabled three shared
files:
* Twain.dll 1.6.0.3 (supports
     numerous scanners and other
     devices)
   * Msconv97.dll 1997.4.2
   * W95inf32.dll 4.71.17

The files were replaced with these older versions:

   * Twain.dll 1.6.0.1
   * Msconv97.dll 1997.3.12
   * W95inf32.dll 4.71.16

The Twain file, of course, is a popular driver that supports numerous
scanners and other devices. Files of this type usually originate with
Microsoft and are distributed by the Redmond, Wash. software giant to
competitors for use with its products. But Windows 98 appears to rely upon
earlier versions and swaps the files, whether or not this has a negative
effect on other installed applications.

The Version Conflict Manager lets the user select a file and trade the
older version for the newer version. But a Win98 user typically has no
knowledge of what applications use which shared files or which version of
each file would be "better." Moreover, the utility is unlikely to be found
routinely by users, because it is buried deep within Win98's menu
structure: Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System
Information, Tools, Version Conflict Manager -- and then you will find it.

Ironically, the origin of the Version Conflict Manager appears to have
been a series of four columns written I wrote from Sept. 2 to Sept. 23,
1996. The columns complained that Windows 95 allowed applications to
install older versions of shared files over newer ones, causing programs
to crash. I urged Microsoft to have Windows catch such conflicts and
prevent them, while allowing the user to switch between shared files, if
necessary, later.

Rather than make the Version Conflict Manager available to all
applications, however, "the VCM mechanism is only turned on during Windows
98 install," according to Sanford. After Win98's setup is over, the
Version Conflict Manager ceases monitoring the system. If the installation
of a third-party application subsequently causes a problem, the Version
Conflict Manager will have no information about the situation.

Any user who installs Windows 98 should check the Version Conflict Manager
immediately after the setup routine is complete to see if any shared files
were changed. The Version Conflict Manager should show the names and
version numbers of any files the Win98 setup routine modified. If this is
the case, I'll describe in my column next week how you can tell what
applications rely on those files and whether you should switch to the
newer versions.