Multiple versions are important because..

[Keatah]

Multiple cracks and versions are important because..

 

Software in the Apple II days (probably like today) would be a moving window. And when you look through this window, you could only see and use contemporary hardware that was popular at the time of publishing.

 

ProTERM dropped and gained all kinds of old and new modems. What the earlier versions supported, the later versions didn't. And the later versions, naturally, supported the newest stuff - modems the earlier releases couldn't possibly "know" about.

 

Cracks are important and actually increase the value and versatility of the software you purchase. Consider ZoomGrafix. I purchased the program decades ago to go along with my Epson MX-80. And with it having copy protection I couldn't put it on my Sider hard drive. So printing all the hi-res pictures on my hard drive would've been a pain. But the Whip (one of the bigger kids in my WaReZ rants) cracked it especially for me and then I had a shitload of fun printing nearly a hundred hi-res pictures and plastering the walls with them! That was the 9apr82 version.

 

Today we have the 4am crack, 5may83, which supports more hardware and is more true to the original disk. But it doesn't run on my Sider. It needs to operate from the DOS on the disk it seems. But that's alright. 6 of this, half-a-dozen of the other.

 

Different cracks, different versions. The more the merrier!