Many corporations choose to have their computer users share a single copy of an application that resides on a network server. The Microsoft Windows operating system, version 3.0 and later, can be run this way. The /n (network) option used in Windows Setup configures the user's system so that most Windows files are used directly off the network, but the user's personal files and configuration information are stored in a private Windows directory. (For more information about using a shared copy of Windows, see the Microsoft Windows User's Guide.)
If you intend to allow shared copies of your application, you must ensure that two users running the same application do not interfere with each other. The following sections present guidelines for preparing an application for network support.