Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!shelby!portia!hanauma!rick From: rick@hanauma (Richard Ottolini) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: rumors Message-ID: <4626@portia.Stanford.EDU> Date: 18 Aug 89 21:25:47 GMT Sender: USENET News SystemReply-To: rick@hanauma (Richard Ottolini) Organization: Stanford University, Dept. of Geophysics Lines: 9 I doubt software at the source level will go out of date for a long time. I expect "extensions" as new hardware (faster CPUs, color, 3D) is introduced. Binaries will probably rapidly become incompatible as the OS evolves and the hardware changes. Most commerical PC software is shipped as binaries. NeXT doen't have a large commerical applciation base, so this is not a problem yet. Binary incompatibility is a major obstacle for PCs such as IBM or Apple to switch CPU tracks. Commerical application software must be upgraded then.