"Funny you should rail on apple in particular. Apple actually allowed for
each transitional break from hardware plat forms to be one version backwards
compatible. Exactly opposite of what you claim. The transition from PowerPC
to intel in osx has been heralded as the most successful and invisible from
a user standpoint. All of the burden was on the software developers. Apple
even gave developers a program environment to compile code for all existing
platforms. Look up Coco, universal application, Rosetta before you trash
apple about not being backwards comparable. Yell at adobe for being slow to
convert their work. Yell at Microsoft for refusing to admit it was time to
move on. Apple supported developers all along the way a gave tools to keep
moving. Adobe and MS and quicken ect chose to neglect their mac customers
and take their money without making the software have feature parity to the
Ms equivalents.
Andy"
Let's go back into history and look at the first hardware/software break for
Apple - the Apple II to Mac conversion.
Total break in both hardware and software - neither could be moved forward
or backward.
At the time, Apple offered the Mac/Lisa developers platform and I applied (
and was willing to pony up the $7500 they wanted { that amount was 40% of my
annual income at the time }). Apple looked at my proposed application and
said "No Thanks we don't want folks like you doing things like that". My
application was a small business management system / cash register that
would totally automate a business. I built the first one for the IBM PC
environment before any of the ubiquitous pc cash registers existed.
Unfortunately I wasn't good at the business of selling but that's another
story.
Can't speak to the issue of software compatibility from that point forward.
Dumped my Apple II, bought a PC box and never looked back.
