I’m going to try to alternate between programming entries (where I actually try to teach something) and random entries (where I get to spout off or go into storytelling mode). So here’s another random entry.

Why does Tweak UI put up a totally incomprehensible error message (“Cannot locate entrypoint GetDllDirectoryW in Kernel32.dll”) when I try to run it on an unsupported OS?

To make sure there is absolutely no way of running it on an unsupported OS.  From experience, I’ve learned that people would run Tweak UI on a toaster if they could. If I used a simple runtime check, somebody would just override it. So instead I made the dependency on Windows XP SP1 and Windows Server 2003 so strong that no amount of patching would get it to work, because the block is being done by the OS program loader.  Not a single byte of Tweak UI has even run at this point, so you can NOP out anything you like, it won’t get the program to run.

Tweak UI has a bad default for the X-Mouse autoraise delay.

Remember, Tweak UI merely provides an interface to existing functionality. I can’t go changing the defaults; the defaults aren’t mine to change. (In this case, the default comes from SystemParametersInfo(SPI_GETACTIVEWNDTRKTIMEOUT).)