Why Portability Matters

You might think that software portability does not affect you: your application software runs fine on your PC today and that's all you use. And that's true, right up until the time you want to consider a new or different system.

Say you're in the market to buy a new desktop system, and a friend shows you the video-editing, music, virus resistance, and digital picture capabilities of his Apple Macintosh. You consider switching to a Mac. Switching GUIs is a no-brainer—GUIs all do essentially the same things, and it only takes a day or two to re-train your fingers. The problem is the apps. You are faced with the “choice” of walking away from your investment in your existing PC-only software, or buying yet another Windows ...

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