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LAST WEEK, I wrote about ways that Microsoft could eliminate DLL hell in its upcoming Windows 98. In this week's column, I'll describe one of the more recent outbreaks of DLL hell - and how you can avoid it.
Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0 ships to software developers with two different DLLs that have the same name. One file, known as CTL3D32.DLL, runs under Windows NT. The other, also named CTL3D32.DLL (but located in a different folder on the C++ CD-ROM) runs under Windows 95. The name conflict creates headaches for PC users.
Many developers are not aware that CTL3D32.DLL comes in two incompatible forms. When they ship products with one file or the other, the new DLL causes programs that depended on an earlier version to quit working. The user usually gets one of Microsoft's...