So what does that mean? Businesses who invested in DOS applications have continued to run them for many years. However, in the last four years or so they've encountered insurmountable problems with the platform. It's nothing to do with the computers themselves - it's much more mundane than that. Their printers have worn out, and they've found themselves unable to buy new printers that have DOS drivers! That's rendered their entire systems pretty much useless. No sensible buyer would consider investing in a DOS-based system today. It simply isn't a workable solution.

Now skip forward a couple of years from today. 64-bit architecture will be the default. All new computers will come with 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit applications. Current 32-bit applications will continue to work on these, so no problem there. Except for the fact that the majority of software applications are written on 16-bit architectures!

Much of the currently available business software simply won't run on the new machines, and users will be faced with exactly the same issues that DOS users are faced with today. The manufacturers of accessories won't be writing 16-bit drivers, so you won't be able to renew your printers, scanners, graphics cards, network cards, etc., etc., etc. The bottom line is this - if you're about to invest in a business application for your business, make absolutely certain that you're still going to be able to use it in two years time. Buying a 16-bit application will guarantee that you're going to have to change your system in the near future. That means retraining your staff, migrating your data, suffering the downtime and headaches that transition brings. That's a whole lot of pain that you really don't need, and can easily avoid

This article has been contributed by John Beattie. John is the founder and joint-CEO of Terms Ltd., the creators of the MI-Store Retail Management System, and a founder and architect of amodus, the online networking site for business leaders, academics, innovators and politicos.