Windows Server 2003 will bring an end to one of the biggest headaches for Windows users and administrators, according to Microsoft. The problem, which relates to Dynamic Link Libraries--software modules that can be shared by several different applications--has become an increasing headache over the years.

Problems typically occur when an application is installed that uses an updated version of a Dynamic Link Library--or DLL--that is already used by another application. If the original application cannot work with the updated DLL, then the user gets an error message; Windows and Windows applications have no notion of DLL version numbers, and so the problem can be difficult to track down.

Historically, components were shared because disk space and memory was expensive. In the past few years, hard disk and memory prices have dropped dramatically, and disk space is no longer a premium. But as applications have increased in size and in modularity--not so long ago many applications were entirely self-contained in a single .exe file--the DLL-sharing issue has not been addressed, and the problem has grown. Now Microsoft is hoping to end when has become known as DLL Hell by building into Windows Server 2003 a system that will stop updated DLLs installed by new applications from overwriting older versions of the same DLLs that may still be used by existing applications.