SlugFiller

I do believe it may be possible, practical, and useful to gradually open-source 9x using a plug-out system: Taking one file at a time and replacing it with an open-source equivalent that does exactly the same(but with better, more stable, peer-reviewed code). Afterwards, the open-source equivalents can have features gradually added to improve compatibility with newer programs, etc. I think the KernelEx project runs along the same lines, but on a smaller scale. Unlike many of the posters here, I am an experienced programmer, and would more than love to invest some of my free time to such a project(If there are enough people working on it). However, there is one issue bigger than gathering programmers: Reverse engineering APIs. As it stands, plug-outing dlls, vxds, and other system files requires understanding exactly what each of them does, what APIs they offer, and what other libraries and/or system calls they use to accomplish their tasks. This is not nearly as simple as it may sound, and may even require decompiling some of the windows files and examining their assembly code in detail. Personally, if I had the necessary reverse-engineered information, I would more than love to replace some of the vxds in the vmm32 folder with faster, stabler counterparts.

I have a semi-localized 98SE. Semi-localized means all menus, buttons, etc in default software are in English, but filenames and default ANSI codepage are localized(mainly allows for localized filenames, and localized text in notepad). If the "semi" part does not make it sufficiently obvious, I have no qualms about replacing accessory programs, dlls, even parts of the kernel, with pure-English versions. Here's my problem, though: While I've been able to upgrade most dlls to their latest versions using English KB installations, and a few unofficial fixes, any attempt to replace User.exe and User32.dll causes the GUI load-up to fail during boot(Safe mode or otherwise). Worst part, it seems some shutdown supplemental or large HD patch or something requires replacing those. Suffice to say my 98SE isn't exactly at peak performance, and I certainly wouldn't mind upgrading those to see if it helps. I did try finding localized 260067*. The MS site was, obviously, a bust, since at some point they apparently disabled downloading of the files their KB articles advertise that you need. So, knowing better, I searched ftp sites, Google, P2P networks, and pretty much anything I could think of, to no avail. So, is there a place I can get a proper update for these? Better yet, what are my alternatives?