Run apps req. Win2k/XP under win98

It seems these days that all the newer apps eg. compuware, MS VisualC++ Toolkit 2003 all require Win2k/XP and will not even run under Win98. I run Linux and Win98 /Win4lin and as of now WIn2k/XP is not supported under Win4lin. For this reason a number of apps are beyond my system. Recently I was able to install MS VisualC++ Toolkit 2003 under Win98 in a round about way. I first installed on my laptop running WinXP, copied the folder to my desktop running LInux/Win4lin/Win98, ran dependency walker and copied a few dlls without which running link.exe was crashing the Win4lin/Win98 process. I was wondering if there were a set of dll's, libraries or some workaround/app to get apps req. Win2k/XP to run under win98. I would not think so as key dll's such as kernel32 are not compatible between the two. But is there any way ?

May be your win 98 do not have .net freamework installed. for run your programms without .net you must use not protected code.

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I think for some programs is not posible to do that, mainly because it depends on core xp services. May be some of then could be simply copied as you did with the visual studio toolkit but the you loose some functionality, as the visual studio analyzer. If you're going to do serious development for xp then better go for VMWare. It will take a bit more space and resources but it's the safest way to go.

Actually I used vmware a few years back before I switched to using win4lin/win98. I do not want to go through the headache of reinstalling yet again another windoze and apps again. I use Linux so as to avoid all the reinstalling every year or so. What "core XP processes" do these new versions of apps need for their core functionality that they cannot get in win98. Older versions of the same software apps function fine in win98. It seems to me that the newer apps have been compiled with XP libraries/dll's requirements and could as easily have been made to work with win98 libraries/dlls. And as for serious development work, my command line compiler runs fine under win4lin/win98. It is just that when I want to use a newer version of an app for some extra features, it wants XP/2K and refuses to install under win98. Case in point is the MS VisualC++ Toolkit 2003. It is just a non-gui command line compiler, but it wants 2K/XP. I can understand that M$ wants us to all upgrade to their latest version of windoze. But why other software companies like compuware have this same requirement. Do they really need these extra "core XP processes" that are unavailable under win98, or like M$ they make their latest software dependent on the lates windoze for a reason .i.e to persuade us to upgrade more often and keep their pockets full ?!!

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Well, basically it's about microsoft trying to sell us xp and vendors too lazy to made applications compatible. May be 90% of non critical appz could be made in such way that it runs in win9x. One of the common problems is that vendors use graphical APIs specific to xp like themes support, fast user switching, etc. Another problem is that MS requires support for f.u.switching, themes, and that crap in order to certify your app as winxp compatible. It seems to me that most vendors don't feel confortable with maintaning portions of code specific to 9x and xp.

There is some functionallity that is specific to the nt kernel that 2000/xp uses. Probably you will have the same problem if the app that you wish to use needs nt4. Don't forget that xp is based in the nt kernel and not in the old 9x. For example, it implements ACLs, better memory and proccess management (and protection?), the NTFS filesystem, real support for services, etc.

By the way. What is compuware? Give a link to the product page.

:EDIT: Ohhh Numega! I really didn't know, looong time since i visited the home page of numega Why companies do such things? As Borland-Inprise-Again Borland

[JMI]

Whoa, Seems your name recognition is failing you. Here's a BIG hint. Compuware used to be named NuMega. If that is not a BIG ENOUGH hint, try SICE.

Regards,

the win9x and winnt platform are totally different.
microsoft is just trying hard not to expose the differences
between these 2 platforms.

for normal programs, a programmer may not need to target
a specific platform in order for his application to work on both
of them.

for system programs (dont know a better term for programs
that makes use of low-level kernel stuff/architecture) like
firewalls, system viewers, device drivers, etc... supporting both
these platforms would require having to create and maintain
almost 2 sources (1 for nt, 1 for 9x), much like maintaining
a system application for windows and linux.

and since majority of the users now use either win2k or winxp,
the nt platform is the preferred platform to support.

for your workaround (copying dependencies from one system
to the other)... you're lucky if you got something to work, and
maybe you can make it work for normal applications. but for
platform-specific functionalities, you may have to think twice
on this approach so that you don't waste too much time on
a lost cause.

I am aware that the win9x and winnt/2k/Xp platforms are radically different ... different kernel ....etc. For low level system programs, I would not even dream of attempting to get win9x apps to work on winnt or vice versa. A number of progs that work in linux kernel 2.4 incl. filemon from sysinternels will not work in 2.6 because of lack of low level backward compatility. So just no point, like trying to transplant B747 instumentation on to a concorde.

I was refering to normal user progs that insist on XP/2k. Partly, because of the limitation of win4lin not supporting XP and partly because of big investment in time installing and getting all my apps working in win4lin/win98, I do not relish switching to a different setup altogether with all the installing and related headaches. For this reason I have spend a fair bit of time trying to get progs to run under win98.

In some cases I just install on my laptop running XP and copy the folder. Dependency walker is a great help here to try out various combinations/versions of dlls to get the app to work and not to break another app. In other cases I have had to resort to installer trichery such as decompiling the installer package and manually getting everything to work. Sometimes successfull, sometimes unsuccessful or simply did not have the time to keep at it.

As the other poster said, M$ has a self serving deliberate policy to arm twist vendors to certify their apps "winxp compatible" forcing vendors to use XP specific libraries for gui crap like themes support ...etc. With Linux, if an app required additional libraries, you just install those packages. With windoze you have to upgrade the entire OS.

I for one tend to resist the, no doubt, persuasive attempts by M$ to get me to upgrade to the latest version of their confounded OS. win9x, Me, 2k, XP even though different are still similar in that they are all a major pain in the ass. After over ten years of hell, I really like the linux/win4lin/win98 setup. win98 now runs on the ext3 fs and if win98 locks up, just kill the process and restart. And I keep an image on CD handy in case win98 corrupts entirely.

And I only use windoze because I have to as a result of the great majority of the world entrenched in the windoze world. Now if only something like Apple OSX would really take off with the best of worlds of windoze gui and unix stability and we all started using the wxwindows cross platform gui toolkit and standard libraries, we could break the stranglehold that M$ has us in.