How to ship gdiplus.dll but not have Windows use it? - dll

Question

i have an application that has a dependancy on gdiplus. i need the application to also run on Windows 2000.
i want to include GDIPlus in the application directory, so that Windows 2000 computers will function, but if the machine is Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, etc, i want it to use the version of GDIPlus that ships, and is updated, with Windows.
Not possible?

Answer 1

From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms997620.aspx Try adding the following to your manifest :-
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
<assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="x86"
name="Microsoft.Windows.mysampleapp" type="win32" />
<description>Your app description here</description>
<dependency>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.Windows.GdiPlus"
version="1.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="x86"
publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df" language="*" />
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
</assembly>

Answer 2

Won't it be easier to do it from the installer ? IF you are installing on Windows 2000 copy Gdiplus to application directory otherwise skip it.

Answer 3

From the GDI+ page:
Run-time Requirements
Gdiplus.dll is included with Windows
XP. For information about which
operating systems are required to use
a particular class or method, see the
More Information section of the
documentation for the class or method.
GDI+ is available as a redistributable
for Windows NT 4.0 SP6, Windows 2000,
Windows 98, and Windows Me. To
download the latest redistributable,
see
http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/psdkredist.htm.
First hit on Google for "win2000 gdiplus".