I am writing a new version of a dll I have made generally available (the EventVB.dll) and in doing this I am altering the object model (class names and enumerated type names mainly).

However this extra clarity and consistency comes at a cost - the dll will no longer be backwardly code compatible if the existing code uses the changed functions (mainly in the area of windows hooks).

The question is which should I pay most attention to - providing a consistent object model or providing code compatibility?
(I realise I should have been consistent from the start, but hindsight s always 20:20)

I'd appreciate your thoughts,
Thanks in advance,
Duncan