> >1.This is a bit off topic, but I have often wondered why some windows >programs require Windows Registries and some work completely without >this. What causes a software author to cross the line that requires >those registry entries and all the complications that go with it? >
It mostly comes down to personal preference of the developer, combined with "policy pressure" from Microsoft. When you have settings to save across program invocations (user preferences, window position and size, etc) it's equally easy to save these preference in an .ini file (which is typically located in the \windows directory or in the directory from which the program is invoked -- this is also up to the program's author) or in the Registry. According to Microsoft's latest guidance, .ini files are SUPPOSED to be obsolete. User's can too easily delete them (when they're placed in the \windows directory) and, after all, the whole reason the Registry exists is to have a central place to store system and program cofiguration settings. For operating system level programs such as device drivers, or for windows "services" (what they call daemons in Unix), there's no choice but to create entries in the Registry. Windows looks for specific registry settings to determine which of these components to start and at what time. The above is a bit of a simplification, of course, but is correct as a general outline. de Peter K1PGV
