The following is important information for those thinking about windows
98.  This has been forwarded to the nfb-talk list, acb list, blind-talk
list, and the vicug-l list.  I already saw it on the gw-micro list.  This
forwarding info is given to reduce duplicate posting possibilities.

Steve

Date:   7/14/98 5:05:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From:   [log in to unmask] (Robert Miller)

>From Bob Miller / DeafBlind Minnesota:

In my last note, I indicated how Winows 98 offers a new set of drivers for
everything from CD's to video cards.  But there's more to the install that
goes on than is obvious...and the following article in the July 13 issue of
Infoword explains why these drivers may render parts of your computer
inoperable:
______________________________

WINDOW MANAGER - BRIAN LIVINGSTON

The setup routine for Microsoft's new Windows 98 operating system
deliberately disables files used by competitors' software and installs
different versions of those film 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 Wm98 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 competitore 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 no knowledge of what application
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.dlI  1997.3.12
W951nf32.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
cornpetitors 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 Win98s 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 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 Win98s 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
immediatelyafter the setup routine is complete to see if any shared files
were changed. The Version Conflict Manager should show the name and version
numbers of any files the Win9 setup routine modified.


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