By default it will use the version put into the GAC. Therefore if you were to remove the original version from the GAC then your front-end wouldn't compile or run. However you can change the file properties in your project to say that a specific version is not needed. Also be aware that an option exists to copy the binary local so it is possible that even if you delete it from the GAC it might still be using a local copy.
You can also control the version used outside VS by defining a versioning policy for your assembly. This versioning policy, for example, can tell clients who use v1.0 of an asembly to actually use v1.1 instead. Note however that you should only do this for critical updates to your program rather than just to force people to upgrade to a newer version. One of the big reasons for the GAC is to allow side-by-side versioning. If you don't want this functionality then you probably shouldn't be using the GAC.
Michael Taylor - 10/13/06
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